A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and wounded 38 at a funeral in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday as the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital for months cast a pall over New Year celebrations.
Baghdadis had greeted 2008 at family gatherings and parties impossible just months ago when travel across the capital at night was too dangerous. At the stroke of midnight celebratory gunfire and fireworks painted the sky over Baghdad.
Police said the suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest among mourners attending a funeral for a man killed in a bomb explosion three days ago.
It was the deadliest attack in the capital since September and one of the worst anywhere in Iraq for months.
Figures show violence in Iraq is still declining, although United States commanders say Sunni Arab militants remain determined to carry out ”spectacular” attacks aimed at killing large numbers of civilians.
Data compiled by the interior, health and defence ministries showed 481 civilians died violently in Iraq in December. This is a 75% drop from the 1 930 who were killed in December 2006 when a wave of sectarian bloodshed threatened civil war.
The decline in violence has been attributed to a US decision to send 30 000 more troops to Iraq in 2007, a decision by Sunni Arab tribes to turn against al-Qaeda and a ceasefire declared by Shi’ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr. — Reuters