A suicide bomber struck a funeral in northern Iraq on Thursday, killing 49 mourners and injuring 50. According to Reuters, one wounded mourner said the funeral had been for two members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security unit who were killed recently.
The attack was one of the deadliest in Iraq for months.
According to AFP, the bomber detonated an explosives vest in the crowd in the Sunni Arab village of Bu Mohammed, 120 kilometres south of the oil city of Kirkuk at around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), Captain Abdullah Jassim said. Doctor Jawdat Abdullah from the hospital in Al-Tuz, near Bu Mohammed village, confirmed the attack, saying his facility was receiving wounded victims, some of whom were seriously injured.
Thursday's killings come a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Al-Qaeda was being isolated in Iraq. "We are determined to defeat terrorism," he told the European parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels.
"We are more confident than ever that we are close to a definitive victory over Al-Qaeda and its lawless allies."
According to Maliki, Al-Qaeda was in a state of "total isolation" in Iraq and was seeking "refuge beyond the borders" in neighbouring nations. "We call on neighbouring countries to dry up the roots of terrorism and prevent the terrorists from filtering into Iraq," he said.
