At least 6 killed in suicide bomb attack at funeral near Iraqi capital

At least six people were killed and 11 others wounded on Sunday in a suicide bomb attack targeting a funeral tent at a village near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest tried to enter a funeral tent of member of a government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group in the village of al-Dhahab Abiyadh in Baghdad western suburb of Abu Ghraib, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Two policemen outside the crowded tent tried to stop the attacker and catch his arms to prevent him from detonating his explosive vest, but the blast occurred, killing the two policemen and four people, in addition to the attacker, while 11 people were wounded, including three policemen, the source said.

"The policemen sacrificed themselves to save innocent people inside the tent. Without their bravery the human casualty could be much higher," the source added.

The Sahwa group, also known as the Awakening Council or the Sons of Iraq, consists of armed groups, including some powerful anti-U.S. Sunni insurgent groups, who turned their rifles against the al-Qaida network after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities.

In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen kidnapped two engineers working for a private oil company and their driver when the armed men intercepted their vehicle in Doura district in southern Baghdad, the source said without giving further details.

Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence since the Islamic State (IS) group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.

Earlier, a report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) estimated that 741 Iraqis were killed and 1,374 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in April across Iraq.

Source: XINHUA