Four civilians were killed and 13 others wounded when insurgents shelled a town near Baghdad on Saturday, an interior ministry source told Xinhua.

"A number of mortar rounds landed on a residential area in Mahmoudiya town, killing four civilians and wounding 13 others," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Several houses were damaged in the attack, the source added.

On Friday, unknown gunmen shot dead four members of a Shiite family in Mahmoudiya, some 30 km south of Baghdad, according to the police.

Sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni communities has flared up since a bombing attack destroyed a major Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 22.

Source: Xinhua