A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 32 people when he blew himself up among mourners at a Shi'ite funeral north of Baghdad today. The attack took place inside a crowded mourning tent in the town of Khalis in volatile Diyala province, police said More than 52 people were wounded.
Since US and Iraqi forces began a security crackdown in Baghdad in February, militants including al-Qaeda have increasingly shifted the focus of their attacks outside the capital.
Diyala, a religiously mixed area, has been the scene of fierce fighting between US forces and al-Qaeda as well as Sunni Arab insurgents.
The security crackdown in Baghdad is seen as a final attempt to halt Iraq's civil war between majority Shias and once-dominant minority Sunni Arabs.