(Updates casualty toll, adds civilians abducted, homes burned)

BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Suspected al Qaeda militants killed 12 civilians and abducted 35 in an attack on Shi'ite Muslim village north of Baghdad early on Saturday, police said.

Ten people were wounded and eight houses burned to the ground in the raid by suspected Sunni Arab gunmen on the village of Dwelah in the volatile Diyala province north of Baghdad.

The attack came a day after Iraqi government statistics showed the number of civilians killed throughout the country in November fell to the lowest level in nearly two years. (Writing by Alaa Shahine; editing by Peter Graff)

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