35 Killed in Iraq Suicide Bombing
 

Updated 6:29 AM EST, Thu January 24, 2013
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People gather around the entrance of a hospital in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, after suicide bombing attack.


Baghdad (CNN) -- A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded scores more Wednesday at a funeral near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, police said.

The attack occurred in the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu, roughly 56 miles (90 kilometers) south of Kirkuk, and also wounded at least two senior Iraqi government officials.

Among the injured is Ahmed Abdul-Wahed, deputy governor of Salaheddin province, a largely Sunni region in north central Iraq.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad called the bombing "cowardly and reprehensible." "This attack is meant to incite others into violence and is harmful to the interests of all Iraqis," it said in a statement. "We extend our condolences to the families of these victims, and hope for the swift recovery of those who were injured."

Last week, a series of car and roadside bombs targeting buses and bus stations rocked predominantly Shiite areas of Iraq and killed 19 people. More than 100 people were wounded in two separate incidents at bus stations in Karbala province, south of Baghdad.

Last month, at least 208 Iraqi soldiers, police officers and -- mostly -- civilians were killed in attacks, according to figures compiled by Iraq's Interior, Defense and Health ministries.

The uptick in violence has coincided with three weeks of demonstrations in Sunni provinces, including Anbar and Mosul, with protesters demanding that the Shiite-led government stop what they call second-class treatment of Iraq's Sunni community.