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| Attacks Kill Scores in Iraq as Violence Surges | Attacks Kill Scores in Iraq as Violence Surges |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car near a funeral tent packed with mourners and another bomber on foot blew himself up nearby in a Shiite part of Baghdad on Saturday evening, killing at least 72 people and wounding more than 120, officials said. | |
| The assaults were the deadliest in a day of attacks that also claimed at least 24 other lives. | |
| Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq in the past few months, with killings reaching a level not seen since 2008. | Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq in the past few months, with killings reaching a level not seen since 2008. |
| The attack on the funeral was one of the largest single terrorist assaults on civilians in Iraq in recent years. It happened shortly before sunset in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad. | |
| The explosions set the tents and several nearby cars on fire. “The scene was horrible,” said Sheik Sattar al-Fartousi, one of the mourners. “The funeral turned into an inferno.” | The explosions set the tents and several nearby cars on fire. “The scene was horrible,” said Sheik Sattar al-Fartousi, one of the mourners. “The funeral turned into an inferno.” |
| The tents were packed with mourners when the blasts went off, said Hussein Abdul-Khaliq, a government employee who lives near the site. | |
| “This funeral was not a military post or a ministry building, yet it was still targeted,” Mr. Abdul-Khaliq said. “This shows that no place and no one is safe in Iraq.” | “This funeral was not a military post or a ministry building, yet it was still targeted,” Mr. Abdul-Khaliq said. “This shows that no place and no one is safe in Iraq.” |
| Less than two hours after the funeral attack, another car bomb blast struck a commercial street in a nearby neighborhood, killing nine people and wounding 14, the police said. | Less than two hours after the funeral attack, another car bomb blast struck a commercial street in a nearby neighborhood, killing nine people and wounding 14, the police said. |
| Gunmen later attacked a shop that had been discreetly selling liquor in the largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiya, killing four people, the police said. | |
| Earlier Saturday, insurgents carried out a suicide attack on a police headquarters in the city of Baiji, killing seven police officers and wounding 21 others. | Earlier Saturday, insurgents carried out a suicide attack on a police headquarters in the city of Baiji, killing seven police officers and wounding 21 others. |
| In that attack, four suicide bombers stormed a base for police commandos, the police said. Guards managed to kill one suicide bomber, but the three other bombers set off their explosive belts inside the compound, the police said. Baiji, a center for oil refining, is 115 miles north of Baghdad. | |
| In other violence, gunmen killed two prison guards after storming their houses in a village near the city of Mosul early Saturday. Also in Mosul, two soldiers were killed and four others were wounded when their convoy struck a roadside bomb. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, is a former militant stronghold. | |
| Medics in nearby hospitals confirmed the casualty figures. | |
| There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assaults. | There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assaults. |