Five Iraqis killed in shooting in Turkey

One of those shot died in hospital from their injuries

The fatal shooting took place in Mardin, south-east Turkey. AP

Five Iraqi citizens were killed in a shooting in Turkey, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

They were shot on a main road in the Turkish province of Mardin, ministry spokesman Ahmed Al Sahaf said.

One man was wounded and later died in hospital.

The victims were members of two families from the Iraqi Kurdish city of Duhok, Kurdish media outlets reported.

Several of them were elderly, including a 75-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man.

Two of the victims were well-known imams in Duhok, their relatives told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw.

One family had travelled from Iraq to seek medical treatment in the nearby city of Diyarbakir, while the other was in Turkey to visit family, their relatives said.

The family believed they would receive better medical care in Turkey than in Iraq and made a last-minute decision to travel, Hawar Jalaludin, whose mother and brother were killed, told Rudaw.

"They looked very happy," she said.

Her mother sent photos to Ms Jalaludin as they ate and crossed the border, she said.

Their vehicles were reportedly stopped by gunmen and they were taken out and shot dead.

Four people have been detained by authorities over the murders, Mardin's Public Prosecutor's Office said.

Mr Sahaf said the Iraqi embassy in Ankara and the general consulate in Gaziantep were following up on the incident.