Suicide blast kills 18 at funeral in Iraq

A suicide blast killed 18 people at a Shiite funeral in northern Iraq, officials said Wednesday.

Blast kills 18 at funeral (Google Maps)

Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir al-Zaidi said a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt inside a mosque in the city of Tuz Khormato, where a funeral for a relative of a politician was being held.

"Corpses are on the ground of the Husseiniyah (Shia mosque)," said Shallal Abdul, mayor of Tuz Khurmatu. "The suicide bomber managed to enter and blow himself up in the middle of the mourners."

Raed Ibrahim, a health official, said 18 individuals died in the blast while 44 were wounded.

Among those who sustained wounds was Ali Hashem Mukhtar, the deputy chief of the Iraqi Turkman Front and a provincial councillor in Salaheddin province.

The funeral was for Mukhtar's brother-in-law, who died in a shooting incident in the city a day earlier.

Situated around 175km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, Tuz Khormato is disputed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, all of whom have claims to it.