Six Sunni men who had received death threats for meeting with local Shiites died Saturday in execution-style slayings, police said.
Gunmen stormed a house in Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad at dawn, police said, according to the AP. Inside, the men were separated from women and children and then shot dead. Police, citing information from surviving relatives, said the victims had received threats from Sunni groups after participating in a reconciliation conference with Shiites last month.
The conference was held in the neighboring town of Mahmoudiyah late last month.
Also Saturday, three U.S. soldiers died by a roadside bomb that exploded while they were on patrol in central Baghdad, the military said.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said Iraqi troops killed three suspected militants in Khan Bani Saad town, located northeast of Baghdad. Two men were arrested in the raid, the ministry said in a statement. Seven others were captured in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, it said.
A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol Saturday morning in southeast Baghdad, injuring three policemen and one civilian, police said.
