A suicide bomber struck a funeral in northern Iraq on Thursday, killing 50 mourners and wounding 55 in an attack that suggests militants have launched a new campaign of violence in the north. Survivors said the funeral had been for two members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood security unit who were killed on Wednesday. Blame is likely to fall on the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, which has vowed to target the neighborhood units because they work with U.S. forces.
The attack was one of the deadliest in Iraq for months and underscored the ability of militants to wreak havoc despite overall falls in violence that have prompted the United States to start withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Police said the bomber detonated a suicide vest after entering the funeral tent in a Sunni Arab village near the town of Adhaim in Diyala province. They put the final death toll at 50.
"Suddenly a fireball filled the funeral tent. I fell to the ground. I saw bodies scattered everywhere," said wounded mourner Ali Khalaf, who was taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Tuz Khurmato for treatment.
Outside a hospital in the northern city of Kirkuk, where pickup trucks took many of the bodies, frantic relatives gathered to look for their loves ones. Several women wearing black robes sat on the ground, wailing.
Northern Iraq has seen an upsurge in bombings this week, including one that killed 40 people in the town of Baquba, capital of Diyala province, on Tuesday.
The U.S.-backed neighborhood security units, called "Concerned Local Citizens" by the U.S. military, have been credited with helping to bring down violence in Iraq.
Around 90,000 men, mainly Sunni Arabs and including some former Sunni Arab insurgents who have turned against al Qaeda, have been recruited. They largely man checkpoints and provide intelligence tips to the U.S. military.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities say al Qaeda militants have moved into northern provinces after being pushed out of the westerly Anbar province, their former stronghold, and also Baghdad.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in a speech during a trip to Brussels on Wednesday, said Iraq was "near to announcing victory over the terrorist organization al Qaeda."
But U.S. commanders say that while al Qaeda has been significantly weakened, it still has the capability to carry out big attacks.