Baghdad- Al-Qaeda militants in Iraq on Wednesday shot and killed a tribal Sheikh, his wife and their son near their home in the northern city of Tikrit, a police source said.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa that the militants apparently wanted to take revenge on Sheikh Ziab Ahmed Ziara.

The sheikh was leader of al-Ahbab tribe in Balad district and had a strong connection with the Awakening Councils, a tribal group who collaborated with the US forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Qaeda militants had killed three members of the Sheikh's family.

Meanwhile in Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad, a bomb ripped through an Iraqi army patrol, killing two soldiers and wounding an officer, a police source told dpa.

Iraqi forces launched an operation in Mosul on February 20 called al-Amal al-Gidid or "The New Hope," targeting al-Qaeda militants in the city. (dpa)