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Bomb kills 32 at funeral for Iraqi boy

An Iraqi soldier leads grieving relatives Wednesday as they carry the coffin of a victim of suicide bombing that targeted a funeral service outside of the Muqdadiyah hospital morgue in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad. Politicians said the attack was an attempt to hinder the formation of a broad-based government. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Patrick Quinn Associated Press
An Iraqi soldier leads grieving relatives Wednesday as they carry the coffin of a victim of suicide bombing that targeted a funeral service outside of the Muqdadiyah hospital morgue in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad. Politicians said the attack was an attempt to hinder the formation of a broad-based government. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Dozens of mourners shuffled alongside the coffin of a 14-year-old killed by an assassin’s bullet when a “strange” person joined the procession. A moment later, the suicide bomber struck.

Wednesday’s attack at the cemetery killed 32 people, wounded more than 40 and stained the tombs with blood.

The mourners were chanting a ritual Islamic prayer, “There is no god but God,” as they followed the pallbearers in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, for the burial of a nephew of a Shiite politician whom attackers had tried to kill the day before. The boy died in the attack Tuesday.

“We were walking in the funeral when a strange person joined the crowd. Suddenly, there was a strong blast and we were turned upside down,” said Amer Khazim, 37. “I saw many legs and hands flying all over the place.”

The bombing was part of a surge of violence Wednesday as Iraqi leaders try to form a coalition government. Altogether, 53 people died in the day’s attacks, which included two car bombings in Baghdad and a militant ambush on a convoy of 60 oil tanker trucks heading from Iraq’s biggest refinery to the capital.

The funeral bombing bore hallmarks of Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq. Politicians said the attack was an attempt to prevent a broad-based government, or force the dominant Shiite alliance into further compromises. Shiites were said to be close to a deal on a coalition with Sunni Arabs and Kurds nearly three weeks after parliamentary elections.

In other violence:

•A car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in Baghdad’s southern Dora district, killing seven people and wounding 15, police said.

•Another car bomb in northern Baghdad killed three civilians and a policeman, and wounded 13, said Maj. Mosa Abdelkareem.

•A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, hit a civilian car instead, killing three passengers, said police Col. Polla Mohammed.