Iraqi gunmen target brothel; 34 dead

An attack on apartments that neighbors say were used as a brothel in Baghdad killed at least 28 women and six men Saturday, security officials told CNN.

An AFP correspondent on the scene reported that the attackers left a message on a door: "This is the fate of any prostitution."

Unidentified militants wearing military uniforms and street clothes stormed several apartments in the Zayona residential complexes in eastern Baghdad, officials said. They fired their weapons in the streets before breaking down doors to enter the buildings, security officials and residents told CNN. Once inside, they killed the men and women, the officials said.

Residents told CNN the Shiite Asa'b Ahl al-Haq organization carried out the attack. But the organization told CNN it does not have forces inside the city.

In other violence over the weekend in Iraq, militants believed to be with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria attacked the city of Haditha from four directions, said Hameed Ahmed al-Hashim, a member of the Anbar provisional council, and two security officials in Haditha.

A large military force backed by tribesmen defended the city, they said.

Iraqi jet fighters bombed a bridge controlled by militants east of Falluja, causing structural damage, al-Hashim said.

Three police officers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy in Kirkuk, a security official told CNN on Saturday.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda splinter group, has led Sunni insurgents who have taken over large areas of northern and western Iraq in an offensive that began last month. The terrorist group has also made major gains in Syria in its quest to establish an Islamic state spanning both countries.