Iraqi man kills, wounds family members in 'collective suicide'
An Iraqi father and two of his sons were killed in an attempted so-called "collective suicide" on Saturday in the city of Diwaniyah, according to local sources and police.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi father and two of his sons were killed in an attempted so-called "collective suicide" on Saturday in the city of Diwaniyah, according to local sources and police.
The father had allegedly attempted to kill himself and his entire family of five by gathering them early in the morning in the center of their house and pulling the pin of a grenade, killing himself and the two sons instantly, local police said in a statement. The family's mother is in critical condition and her daughter of seven was also severely wounded.
Locals living close to the family described the tragic incident as a "collective suicide" when speaking to Kurdistan 24 and added the daughter lost a leg due to the explosion. There is no evidence to suggest whether or not his wife was aware of, or party to, the violent act.
One source said that the man had recently complained of poverty and misfortune and others claimed that he had accumulated a significant amount of debt.
Like many other cities in Iraq, Diwaniyah local government has yet to effectively address its dilapidated infrastructure, low standard of living, and chronic lack of basic services, despite the passing of 15 years since the fall of the former Baathist regime. The city was part of the protests that started as a result of such grievances and which inflamed the nation's southern and central provinces this summer.
After the fall of oil prices and the subsequent emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014, Iraq's poverty rates grew even more significant as the economy struggled to stay afloat. To this day, millions still live below the poverty line, many relying on a modest food ration program established by Baghdad in 1991 after UN-instituted sanctions were placed on the country.
The amount of food distributed to households, however, has since shrunk considerably. Government officials have attributed this to growing purchasing power among the population following an increase in the salaries of government employees.
Editing by John J. Catherine