Mosul public funeral cancelled after attack
Death toll from blast reaches 50.
Mosul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Relatives of the people killed on Thursday in a suicide bomb attack on funeral mourners in Mosul have called off plans to hold a joint public burial. The decision was made after a mortar went off on Friday morning at the site of the original attack. A Shia spokesman said relatives decided to hold separate private burials to avoid the risk of another bombing. Meanwhile the death toll from Thursday's suicide bomb attack on the funeral of a respected Shi'ite professor has reached 50, with nearly 80 wounded. The suicide bomber walked into a large crowd at the funeral in a tent at the mosque compound in the evening and then detonated an explosive belt. Doctors said the toll could rise further, and added that several children who had been at the funeral were missing.
The bloodshed came as Shia and Kurdish politicians in Baghdad said they had overcome a major stumbling block to forming a new coalition government. Shia mosques and funerals have become frequent targets of attacks. Last month, bombers attacked a number of them during the Shia commemoration of Ashura, killing nearly 100 people.
Mosul has been a focus for fighting, and the scene of many bombings, drive-by shootings and assassinations targeting the country's security services, majority Shia and people thought to be working with US-led forces. According to AsiaNews sources, the insurgents belong to ex baathist and Islamic fundamentalist groups who want to destroy the path to democracy.
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