Gunmen killed seven family members of an Iraqi police officer, including a teenage son, in a pre-dawn attack today on their home near the northern city of Kirkuk. <br/><br/>A Kirkuk police captain, told AFP that the unidentified assailants had kidnapped the seven family members, among them three of the officer's children. <br/><br/>The officer himself managed to escape during clashes between police and the gunmen, but the seven relatives were killed. <br/><br/>Another security official, blaming the Islamic State militant group for the attack, said the assailants also blew up a car at the officer's house. <br/><br/>IS, which seized swathes of northern Iraq in a 2014 campaign, has been on the defensive since its ouster last month by Iraqi security forces from second city Mosul.