Baghdad - Two Iraqi Christians were killed on Sunday in the city of Mosul after hundreds of Christians fled the city, a police source said Monday.

Unknown gunmen broke into a shop in an eastern district of Mosul and killed the shop's Christian owner and injured another shop assistant, the police source told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

In another incident, gunmen shot a Christian man dead after they raided his house north-east of Mosul.

Around 300 Christian families are believed to have fled the city since last week.

The rise in the attacks has coincided with major demonstrations by Chritsian groups protesting the removal of Article 50 from the provincial elections law, which was approved by the Presidential Council last week.

The article had guaranteed Christians certain rights of representation in local assemblies. A further version of the article has been referred to the Iraqi assembly.

Iraqi Christians are one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. (dpa)