BAGHDAD; Gunmen in army uniforms massacred 25 people from families linked to an anti-Qaeda militia as they swooped on a village south of Baghdad before dawn on Saturday, Iraqi officials said.

Five women were among the dead, an interior ministry official said, while a security spokesman blamed Al-Qaeda and said 17 people were arrested in connection with the murders.

The victims were found with either broken arms or legs, indicating they were tortured, according to a medical official at Al-Yarmuk hospital in west Baghdad with knowledge of police reports of the killings.

The brutal killings come as Iraq’s political parties negotiate to form a government, nearly a month after a general election.

Security officials have warned that a protracted period of coalition building could give insurgents an opportunity to further destabilise Iraq.

“Men wearing uniforms and driving vehicles similar to those used by the army stormed three houses in the village of Sufia, in the region of Hour Rajab, and killed 25 people, including five women,” said the interior ministry official.

A defence ministry official confirmed the details of the attack and the toll. The interior ministry official said witnesses told security forces the killers entered the village just before midnight on Friday and carried out the murders two hours later.