Bombing in Northern Iraq Kills 35, Wounds 100
Published at(BAGHDAD) — A bombing targeting a mosque in northern Iraq late Wednesday brought back painful memories of when sectarian tensions were at their worst in the country during the nine-year war.
Authorities in the town of Tuz Khurmato said a suicide bomber set off explosives during a funeral near a Shiite mosque, killing at least 35 people and wounding more than 100 others.
Several Iraqi officials who attended the funeral service were among the casualties.
Tuz Khurmato is an ethically-diverse town so suspicion for the attack fell on Sunni insurgents allied with al Qaeda militants still operating in Iraq.
United Nations special envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, said in a statement, “Such attacks aim to heighten tensions in this particularly sensitive region and I call on all people of Iraq to resist vicious attempts to undermine their [drive] for peace and stability.”
Since the U.S. withdrawal of military forces more than a year ago, the federal government in Baghdad has worked toward establishing national unity.
However, Sunnis and Kurds have accused Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of undermining this goal by marginalizing them.
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