Gunmen kill family of six north of Iraq capital

Gunmen attacked the home of an Iraqi Sunni family north of Baghdad today, killing a man, two women and three children, officials said.
The attack took place at Tarmiyah in the evening, a police colonel and a medical official said.
It was unclear who carried out the killings, or why the family was specifically targeted.
The killings come as Sunni Arab militants push toward Baghdad in a major offensive that has overrun large areas of five provinces north and west of the capital.
As security forces wilted in the face of the initial onslaught, the government announced it would arm and equip volunteers, while Shiite militias are also fighting alongside Baghdad's troops.

Iraq is suffering its worst violence since 2006-2007, when tens of thousands of people were killed in a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian war marked by frequent death squad killings.