Suicide bombing kills 35 at funeral in northern Iraq

TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral in a Shiite mosque in a city in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 75 others, a local police source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred on Wednesday afternoon when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up among mourners at a funeral inside the Sayd al-Shuhadaa Shiite mosque in the city of Tuz-Khurmato, some 200 km north of the capital Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The attacker targeted the funeral of a government employee killed the day before, who is a relative Ali Hashim, Shiite member of the Council of Salahudin province, the source said.

Hashim and the deputy governor of Salahudin province were among the wounded, the source added.

The toll could rise as many of the victims were evacuated by ambulances and civilian cars to several hospitals and medical centers in the city, he said.

Salahudin province is a Sunni-dominated province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein.

Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks are still common in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

from XINHUA
2013-01-23 21:47:38

Posted in: Baghdad, Iraq, Shia Islam, Shiite, Suicide attack, Tikrit