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| Iraq suicide blast kills 15 at Shia funeral in Baquba | Iraq suicide blast kills 15 at Shia funeral in Baquba |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| A suicide attack has killed at least 15 people at a Shia funeral in Baquba, north of Baghdad, officials say. | A suicide attack has killed at least 15 people at a Shia funeral in Baquba, north of Baghdad, officials say. |
| Another 40 people were wounded in the blast in the city centre, according to police and hospital sources. | |
| A wave of bombings aimed at Muslim Shia pilgrims and religious sites has killed more than 130 people in Iraq since the beginning of June. | A wave of bombings aimed at Muslim Shia pilgrims and religious sites has killed more than 130 people in Iraq since the beginning of June. |
| On Saturday, two car bombs targeting Shia pilgrims killed at least 32 people in the capital Baghdad. | On Saturday, two car bombs targeting Shia pilgrims killed at least 32 people in the capital Baghdad. |
| The suicide bomber in Baquba detonated his explosive belt in a tent where Shias had gathered to mourn a tribal chief early on Monday evening, a police source said. | The suicide bomber in Baquba detonated his explosive belt in a tent where Shias had gathered to mourn a tribal chief early on Monday evening, a police source said. |
| About 150 people, including senior politicians and security officials, were present in the tent, Sadiq al-Hussaini, the head of Diyala province's ruling council, told the Associated Press news agency. | |
| Mr Husseini blamed the attack on Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda. | |
| "Absolutely this is the way of al-Qaeda - targeting innocent people to ignite sectarian unrest," he said. | |
| The head of the Iraqi army's ground forces, Lt-Gen Ali Ghaidan, was among the mourners, but was unhurt, according to AP. | |
| Powerful blast | |
| "The bomber came in through a side entrance in one tent. When he blew himself up, all I could see was dust and people being thrown back by the pressure of the blast," policeman Abbas Ali, who was among the mourners, told the Reuters news agency. | |
| The force of the blast could be heard and felt 2km (1.2 miles) away, farmer Saif al-Tamimi told the agency. | |
| The recent upsurge in violence has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian conflict that beset Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion. | The recent upsurge in violence has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian conflict that beset Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion. |
| It comes as Iraq's most prominent Sunni Arab politician, Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, is being tried in absentia on charges of funding death squads targeting Shia officials. He denies the accusations. | |
| Iraq's Shia Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, has faced calls for a confidence motion in parliament from parties within his national unity government, which have accused him of concentrating power in his hands. | |
| Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, was major focus of Sunni insurgent activity during the civil war. | Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, was major focus of Sunni insurgent activity during the civil war. |
| While the number of attacks has fallen since the height of the violence in 2005-7, the security situation deteriorated again after the withdrawal of US troops last December. | |
| The Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group and al-Qaeda affiliate, has said it carried out many of the recent bombings. |