Man shoots 12 of his family members

Tehran: A man shot dead 12 members of his family and injured three others in Iran’s Kerman province, country’s semiofficial news agency reported.

Addressing reporters, Kerman’s Police Commander Nasser Farshid said the incident occurred at 4.30 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) in Faryab County, when the 25-year-old armed man opened fire on his two stepbrothers and their family members in two houses, Tasnim news agency reported.

The accused committed the crime due to “family differences”, Farshid said, adding a manhunt had been launched to arrest him, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Tasnim news.

As per Ebrahim Hamidi, head of Kerman’s Justice Department, the man used a Kalashnikov rifle for the crime, state media reported.