(Adds background)

BAGHDAD, June 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked the house of a senior police official in Diyala province on Friday, killing 14 people including his wife, and kidnapped his four children, police sources said.

They said the two brothers of Colonel Ali Delyan Ahmed, the head of police in Baquba north of Baghdad, were among the dead.

It was not clear if Ahmed was at his house in Kanaan, south east of Baquba, at the time of the attack.

Diyala is a large religiously and ethnically mixed province which has seen some of the worst violence in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003.

Killings and attacks by al Qaeda occur regularly in Diyala, which is a mainly Sunni Arab province but also has significant Shi'ite and Kurdish populations.

About 3,000 extra U.S. troops have been sent to Diyala to combat a recent spike in violence.

AlertNet news is provided by