Spate of Iraq bombings kill 39

BAGHDAD: Attacks in and north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, including a suicide bombing at a funeral and seven car bombs, killed at least 39 people on Wednesday, officials said. The suicide attack hit the funeral of an anti-Al-Qaeda militiaman in restive Diyala province while the car bombs targeted civilians in and around the capital, according to security and medical officials. Dozens more were wounded in the violence, which was mostly concentrated in Baghdad. At least seven car bombs went off minutes apart in majority-Shia or confessionally-mixed neighbourhoods across the capital, killing 23 people, officials said. A suicide bomb targeting the funeral of an anti-Qaeda militiaman in Buhruz, north of Baghdad, meanwhile killed 16 more people. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently carry out coordinated attacks on civilians and often target anti-Al-Qaeda militiamen, whom they regard as traitors.