A suicide car bomb targeting mourners at a funeral killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 30 others in Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, on Thursday, hospital and police officials said.
The bomber was targeting a large crowd in a funeral procession for a man who was killed earlier on Thursday, police officer Jamal Anfous told Reuters.
The man whose funeral mourners were attending was identified as Allawi al-Isawi, a local contractor who was part of a Sunni Arab initiative working against al-Qaeda militants in Fallujah, 50km west of Baghdad.
Fallujah is in restive Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency and of Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda.
The United States military has a force of more than 6 000 troops in Anbar, and their commander in the region estimated last week that al-Qaeda accounts for about 75% of militants in and around predominantly Sunni Fallujah.
Al-Qaeda has been waging a campaign against tribal leaders and politicians who cooperate with authorities in Anbar. Some tribal leaders have formed an alliance with US and Iraqi government forces to combat al-Qaeda. – Reuters