From The New York Times:
Suicide Bomber Attacks Funeral Procession in Iraq
Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
Residents carried the coffin of a victim after an attack in Baghdad's Zafraniyah neighborhood on Friday.
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: January 27, 2012
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives attacked a funeral procession in a Shiite neighborhood on Friday, the latest in a wave of attacks on Shiites across Iraq since the withdrawal of American troops last month.
Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
Residents grieved at the scene of the car bomb attack in Baghdad.
Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press
People gathered in Baghdad at the site of the car bomb attack.
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There were conflicting reports about the death toll. According to a security official, 31 people died, including 8 police officers, and nearly three dozen were wounded. Other officials said the death toll was slightly higher and as many as 60 were wounded.
The attack appeared similar to others mounted by Al Qaeda in Iraq in recent weeks. The group has said it has shifted its attention toward those with close ties to Iran in an effort to push back on the country’s influence in Iraq in the wake of the American withdrawal.
The car bomb was detonated around 11 a.m., as a procession of family and friends for a real estate agent who was fatally shot in Baghdad on Thursday were walking with the body through the streets of the Zafraniyah neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.
The explosion rattled windows throughout the city and could be heard several miles away.
The acting minister of interior, Adnan al-Asadi, said in an interview here on Thursday that the recent increase in Al Qaeda attacks was “just to prove that they are still here.” Mr. Asadi said that when the Americans were in Iraq they made the fight against Al Qaeda more difficult.
“It became better after the Americans left,” he said. “They were slowing our operations. Sometimes we would arrest a bad guy, and they would get involved and say, ‘That is our guy’ and they would have him set free.”
In the wake of the American withdrawal, the Iraqi security forces have made great strides against the insurgents, Mr. Asadi said. “Al Qaeda has received a number of hits, and we were able to arrest a large number of their leaders.”
He added: “We are hitting them hard. And we are arresting big numbers of them every day, sometimes as much as 50 a day.”
Violence and political instability have escalated across Iraq since the withdrawal of American forces.
On Tuesday a series of explosions in Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad killed nine people and wounded dozens more. In a brazen show of force, insurgents on Jan. 15 attacked a police compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, leaving nine people dead.
In one of the bloodiest attacks this month, more than 50 people were killed on Jan. 14 after an explosion in the southern city of Basra ripped through a group of pilgrims headed to a mosque to commemorate one of the holiest Shiite holidays.
At least 200 people have been killed by suspected insurgent attacks since the beginning of the year, The Associated Press reported. The violence has raised questions among Iraqis about the capabilities of the security forces without the aid of the American military.
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