7 Iraqis killed in continued violence

Gunmen killed three Sunni Muslim shopkeepers Sunday in a mixed neighborhood of Baghdad, and two pedestrians died in a roadside bomb, police said.

The shopkeepers were killed in Baghdad's southwestern Baya district. Two cars of gunmen screeched through the neighborhood's main marketplace, opening fire on wholesalers peddling food, clothing and housewares, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. One person was also injured.

In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb missed an Iraqi police patrol but killed two pedestrians and wounded two others, police said. Nearby, police said drive-by shooters sprayed bullets at four guards for the Iraqi finance ministry, killing one and injuring two others.

In Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of the capital, gunmen assassinated Akeel al-Khalidi, a defense ministry employee, as he left his house for work, another police officer said on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.

Another roadside bomb went off near an American military convoy in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, damaging one Humvee, police said. There was no word on casualties, and U.S. troops sealed off the area.