Iraqs writers union confirmed and condemned the killing of Iraqi novelist Alaa Mashzoub. Mashzoub, 50, was on his way home when he was shot multiple times near his house by a motorcycle gunman in the city of Kerbala on Saturday, police said late on Saturday. He was active in local Kerbala civil society, Reuters reported. "The cultural scene has lost one of its special authors and creators," Iraqs Culture and Tourism Minister Abdul Amir al-Hamdani stated on Sunday. Mashzoub wrote several novels and short story collections that won local and regional literary awards.