Two Iraqi Christians were killed on Sunday in the city of Mosul after hundreds of Christians fled the city, a police source said Monday.

Unknown gunmen broke into a shop in an eastern district of Mosul and killed the shop's Christian owner and injured another shop assistant, the police source told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

In separate incident, gunmen shot a Christian man dead after they raided his house north-east of Mosul.

Around 300 Christian families are believed to have fled the city since last week.

The rise in the attacks has coincided with major demonstrations by Christian groups protesting the removal of Article 50 from the provincial elections law, which was approved by the Presidential Council last week.

The article had guaranteed Christians certain rights of representation in local assemblies. A further version of the article has been referred to the Iraqi assembly.

Meanwhile five people were injured including two policemen when a bomb struck their police patrol north-east of Baghdad, VOI reported.

In Diyala province, a 59-year old female suicide bomber was arrested, as she was about to commit an attack.

Diyala has witnessed over 20 female suicide attacks over the last few months. In some of these instances, the female attackers, wearing black, flowing head-to-toe robes, have been able to sneak bombs into crowds.

In Baghdad an 80-year-old woman was taken into tribal custody, after Iraqi security forces unsuccessfully attempted to arrest the woman's son, prompting the Iraqi Minister for Women's Affairs to appeal against the arrest to the defence ministry.