Heavily-armed militants attacked the home of an anti-Qaeda militiaman north of Baghdad Sunday, killing and decapitating his wife and two sons and killing another person in a brutal pre-dawn assault.

The militia leader, Abu Salim, was not in the house at the time of the attack, which involved more than a dozen vehicles and fighters armed with heavy machine guns and other weapons and also left two of his young sons wounded.

Fighters attacked the militia leader's house in Jilam, a suburb of the predominantly Sunni city of Samarra, at around midnight on Saturday, and killed Abu Salim's wife, two sons and another woman, a police colonel and another officer said.

They then decapitated his wife and two sons, and set off explosives around the house, injuring two other sons, aged four and five.

Policemen at a nearby checkpoint attempted to repel the assault, the officers said, but were unsuccessful and fled the scene when they ran out of ammunition and reinforcements that they had radioed for failed to arrive.

Abu Salim is the leader in Jilam of the Sahwa, or Awakening, a collection of mostly-Sunni tribal militias that from late-2006 onwards sided with US forces against their co-religionists in Al-Qaeda, helping turn the tide of Iraq's insurgency.

But as a result, they are regarded by Sunni militants as traitors, and are regularly targeted in attacks.

In the Baghdad area on Sunday, meanwhile, a bombing and two shootings killed three people, security and medical officials said.

The latest bloodshed came a day after five car bombs were set off in commercial areas of the Iraqi capital, killing 15 people and wounding more than 50 others.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, but Sunni militants, including those linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group, are often blamed for carrying out coordinated mass-casualty bombings.

Iraq is grappling with its worst prolonged period of violence since it emerged from a bloody sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2006-07.

More than 250 people have been killed already this month, according to an AFP tally.

Analysts and diplomats have urged the Shiite-led government to reach out to the Sunni community, who allege they are mistreated by the government and security forces.

But with elections looming on April 30, political leaders have been loath to be seen to compromise.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has instead singled out Saudi Arabia and Qatar, accusing the two Gulf states of backing militant groups and effectively waging war on Iraq.

He told France 24 in an interview this month that Riyadh and Doha provide political, financial and media support to militant groups, and also accused the Saudis of supporting global "terrorism".

Baghdad car bombs kill nine: officials
Baghdad (AFP) March 15, 2014 - A series of evening car bombs targeting commercial neighbourhoods of Iraq's capital killed at least nine people on Saturday, security and medical officials said.

The five blasts also wounded dozens, the latest in a months-long surge in bloodshed that has hit the country with less than two months left before national parliamentary elections.

The attacks, all car bombs at markets or commercial shopping areas of the Sadr City, Amil, Amin, Shuala and Qahira neighbourhoods, killed nine people in all, said police and medical sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

More than 30 people were wounded, they said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, but Sunni militants, including those linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group, are often blamed for carrying out coordinated mass-casualty bombings.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has singled out Saudi Arabia and Qatar for effectively waging war on Iraq, accusing the two Gulf states of backing militant groups.

He told France 24 in an interview this month that Riyadh and Doha provide political, financial and media support to militant groups, and also accused the Saudis of supporting global "terrorism".

Elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday, a gun attack on the outskirts of the confessionally mixed city of Baquba killed a mother and her son, while a car bomb in the predominantly Sunni city of Tikrit near the home of a police colonel wounded 15 people.

More than 230 people have been killed already this month, according to an AFP tally.

Iraq is grappling with its worst prolonged period of violence since it emerged from a bloody sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2006-07.

Analysts and diplomats have urged the Shiite-led government to reach out to the Sunni community, who allege they are mistreated by the government and security forces.

But with elections looming on April 30, political leaders have been loath to be seen to compromise.