At least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomb at a Shia funeral north-east of Iraq’s capital, officials say.
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Hours earlier, a suicide bomber killed 40 to 60 people and injured 100 in a Shiite funeral in the eastern province of Diyala.
“The terrorist attacks in Baghdad once again confirm the need for an uncompromising fight against transnational terrorist groups, wherever they are, in Iraq, Syria or other countries of the Middle East and North Africa”, the ministry said.
About seven militants might have participated in the deadly suicide attacks that left 87 people dead in Iraq on Sunday and Monday.
But they have also carried out repeated abuses during the conflict that ultimately feed mistrust of the government and are harmful to Baghdad’s efforts to reassert and maintain control in recaptured areas. Two police officials said 112 people remain hospitalized. People gather at the scene of bombing attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016.
The deceased include seven Shiite militia leaders, said the source.
In January, an IS bombing targeting Shi’a in Muqdadiyah triggered a wave of revenge attacks on Sunni homes and a mosque.
“The latest report concerning the casualties from Monday’s suicide bombing attack near Maqdadiyah rose to 34 deaths and 43 wounded”, the source said.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released by the group on Monday evening. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Since 2014 the group has controlled swaths of land in northern and western Iraq after spilling over from Syria in a rapid advance that sent thousands of Iraqi troops fleeing.
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Diyala province was declared “liberated” from IS in late January 2015, but ending their open control of populated areas has not brought an end to attacks by the jihadists.
