Baghdad - Police said Wednesday 17 border guards have been shot dead by gunmen in different areas in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The killings occurred over the last 24 hours, police sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The sources did not say whether the killings were carried out by the same gunmen and what the motive behind them was.
Criminal gangs and militias loyal to rival political powers have been active in Shiite-dominated Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad.
In a separate incident in the city, Sheikh Abdel-Azim al-Idani, a close aide of senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was critically wounded in an attack by gunmen Tuesday, according to the same the sources.
Al-Idani's aide was killed in the attack.
Basra has recently seen a wave of assassinations targeting senior security officials, academics and clerics.
The Iraqi government has sent reinforcements to the city to crack down on criminal activities and a surge in sectarian violence.
