BAGHDAD: Police say the house of an Iraqi government official has been bombed and his wife and two daughters have been killed.  

Authorities believe the early Thursday attack targeted the home of Ali Abdul-Amir, a Shia who is a senior official in Baghdad's local government.

Abdul-Amir and his two sons were wounded in the strike on their home in western Baghdad's Sunni-dominated neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah.

Officials at Yarmouk hospital confirmed the deaths. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Though violence has dropped across Iraq, government employees and security forces are still regularly targeted by insurgents.