Man kills 12 members of his family in Iran

A man shot dead 12 of his family members and injured three others on Saturday morning in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman, reported Xinhua, quoting Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The incident occurred at 04:30 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) in Faryab County, when the 25-year-old armed man opened fire on his two stepbrothers and their family members in two houses, Tasnim quoted Kerman's Police Commander Nasser Farshid as saying in an address to reporters.

He cited family differences as the shooter's motive, adding that a manhunt had been launched to arrest the "murderer."

Ebrahim Hamidi, head of Kerman's Justice Department, said the man used a Kalashnikov rifle to kill his family members, including his father, according to the official news agency IRNA.