Gunmen singled out seven Shiite Muslims and shot them in Iraq's north while they were out swimming in a targeted sectarian attack, officials said Saturday.

Shalal Abdoul, mayor of the town of Tuz Khormato, said the attack happened outside the nearby Shiite Turkoman village of Amerili. The attackers arrived on motorcycles and executed the Shiites after separating them from Sunni Arabs, whom they allowed to go free, he said.

"The terrorists want to ignite sectarian strife in our area. Today's attack carries a sectarian message," Abdoul said.

Tuz Khormato is about 130 miles north of Baghdad. Tuz Khormato police Capt. Mazin Abdullah confirmed the attack.

Violence has ebbed in Iraq since its height between 2005 and 2008, but lethal attacks continue to occur almost daily. Attacks against Iraqi Shiites are often blamed on al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, which has declared its intention to take back areas from which the U.S. and its local allies expelled the militants.