(CNN) -- Attackers gunned down an elderly Christian couple late Sunday inside their Baghdad home, the latest in a string of religious-rooted violence that has spurred international outcry and a full-court press for justice from Iraqi authorities. Gunmen broke into the couple's residence in Baladiyat, a predominantly Shiite area in eastern Baghdad, during the night and shot them dead, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Hours earlier, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said in a press conference broadcast on state-run Iraqiya TV that 15 "Arabs" -- in Iraq, a euphemism indicating they came from outside the country -- were responsible for three deadly attacks in Baghdad in recent months, including a bloody church siege.
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Attackers shot dead an elderly Christian couple Sunday in their home, an Iraqi official says
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The attack was the latest in recent months targeting Christians in Iraq
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The official says 5 of 15 responsible for 3 major attacks remain at large
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Iraq's prime minister assures an Italian minister the attackers will be "severely punished"
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The spokesman for the @placeholder military command in Baghdad showed pictures of each of the men, whom he called "terrorists" and said they had entered Iraq from unidentified countries between June and August.
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The spokesman for the Iraqi military command in @placeholder showed pictures of each of the men, whom he called "terrorists" and said they had entered Iraq from unidentified countries between June and August.