Iraqi police say attackers have decapitated the leader of the women's league of the Kurdish Communist Party.

A police officer says gunmen on Thursday stormed the Kirkuk home of Nahla Hussein al-Shaly and shot and beheaded her.

The city of Kirkuk lies 180 miles north of Baghdad. The officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Party spokesman Azad Gahareeb says the 37-year-old al-Shaly may have been targeted because she promoted women's rights. He says the married mother of two was alone in the house when she was attacked.