Iraqi police found a young boy, crying but unharmed, next to the bodies of his five brothers on Thursday after they were kidnapped by gunmen.

His brothers had been shot in the head and their hands were bound, the apparent victims of a sectarian death squad.

The victims were day labourers who were kidnapped on Wednesday on their way home to al-Rashaad district, 40 km southwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a volatile area that is home to mainly Sunni Arabs.

Police said it was not clear why the boy, who was about six or seven years old, had been spared. He had possibly gone along with his brothers as a water carrier to keep them refreshed in Iraq's summer heat.