Seeing the success of tribal leaders in Anbar province uniting to fight al-Qaeda, several tribes in Salah-el-Din province formed a Salvation Council under the leadership of Sheikh Hamad al-Hasan last Thursday.

Gunmen exacted a reprisal for the action on Monday, killing four relatives of Sheikh al-Hasan.

Four relatives of the head of the Salah el-Din Salvation Council, Sheikh Hamad al-Hasan, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked their house in al-Hajjaj village, in southern Bayji, Voices of Iraq (VOI) reported Tuesday.

The attack occurred in the early hours Monday morning, a local media source told VOI.

"The gunmen killed the council head's four nephews, then set the bodies and house on fire," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

It hasn‘t been made public whether the attacks were sponsored by al-Qaeda, although the odds are excellent that the US military would tag them as the initiators. Even though there are quite a few groups of militants in Iraq, domestic US politics requires CENTCOM and MNF-I to call them all “al-Qaeda.” The name is less important than their tragically quick response, but from what we have learned of tribal life it’s unlikely the reprisal will deter the Salvation Council. A blood vendetta, if supported by the other tribes of the Salvation Council, will increase their strength and their fury in the push-back will create another small victory against terrorism in the province.