Suicide bomber hits funeral tent in N Baghdad, 33 killed

TIKRIT, Iraq, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral tent in a village near the town of Edheim in Diyala province on Thursday, killing at least 33 mourners and wounding more than 30 others, police said.

"A suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at about 11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) at a funeral in the Albu Muhammad village, some 120 km north of Baghdad, killing at least 33 and wounding more than 30 others," the source from the neighboring Salahudin province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A source from Diyala police command told Xinhua that the suicide bomber targeted the funeral of two brothers affiliated to local Awakening Council group and had been killed two days ago.

The Diyala source put the death toll at least 30 and dozens of mourners wounded.

The Sunni Arab village where the bombing took place situated at the edge of Diyala province near Salahudin. The area is a hot spot where Iraqi government-backed tribesmen fight militants of the al-Qaida in Iraq network.

The attack is the most deadliest one in April in Diyala after an earlier attack in the month that killed 20 people and wounded 30 others when a suicide bomber struck mourners at a cemetery in the town of al-Sadiyah, some 120 km northeast of Baghdad.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border in the east, is the hot bed for sectarian violence and a major stronghold for al-Qaida network.

BAGHDAD, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a car bomb explosion in the city of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province on Tuesday, rose to 40 with some 70 others injured, a provincial police source said.

"The latest reports said that up to 40 people were killed and some 70 others injured by the Baquba car bombing," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Full story

BAGHDAD, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government removed the army and police commanders in the southern city of Basra days after a crackdown on Shiite militia in the city, a spokesman said.

"I can confirm that Maj. Gen. Mohan al-Fraiji has been removed from his post as the commander of Iraqi Army in the city of Basra," Brigadier Qassim Atta al-Mossawi, spokesman of security plan in Baghdad, told a news conference. Full story

DAMASCUS, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's neighbors agreed here on Monday to promote security cooperation in an effort to help restore stability in the war-torn country as they wrapped up a two-day meeting of the security coordination committee.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, the participants praised "positive cooperation" between Iraq and its neighbors in fighting terrorism and efforts to improve the security situation in Iraq. Full story