More than 60 people have been killed and dozens hurt in several bomb attacks apparently targeting Sunnis in Iraq.
In the first attack, in Baquba, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, at least 41 people were killed when two bombs detonated outside a Sunni mosque.
Later, police said at least seven were killed at a Sunni funeral in Madain, and at least 14 died in two blasts in western Baghdad.
Iraq has seen a sharp increase in sectarian violence in recent weeks.
On Thursday, at least eight people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque in the northern city of Kirkuk.
The mosque was being attended by relatives mourning victims of violence in the city the day before.
Hours before that, at least 12 people were killed in car bomb attacks on mainly Shia districts of the capital Baghdad.
On Wednesday, at least 34 people died in bomb attacks across Iraq, several of which targeted Shia areas.
Mourners killed
In Friday’s incident in Baquba, the first bomb went off as worshippers were leaving a Sunni mosque after Friday prayers. As people went to aid those injured, a second bomb was remotely detonated, said police.
Some 56 people were injured.
“I was about 30m (yards) from the first explosion,” student Hashim Munjiz told Reuters.
“When the first exploded, I ran to help them, and the second one went off. I saw bodies flying and I had shrapnel in my neck.”
At least 20 people were injured by the bomb attack in the town of Madain. Most of the victims were reported to have been mourners attending the funeral of a local mayor.
And two bombs in a Sunni-majority commercial area in the west of Baghdad killed more than 14 people, officials said. At least 30 people were injured.
The surge of violence across Iraq in the past month began after an army raid on a Sunni anti-government protest camp near the northern town of Hawija that left 50 people dead.
The demonstrators accused the government of targeting the Sunni community.
BBC
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.