BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Up to 27 people have been killed and 36 wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a funeral attended by members of the Shabak minority in northern Iraq.

The bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a tent during the Saturday afternoon ceremony near the city of Mosul, 360 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. The funeral was for a member of the Shabak minority who had died of natural causes.

The Shabaks are ethnic Turkomen and Shiite Muslims. Most of them live in villages east of Mosul. Also on Saturday, six people were killed and nine others wounded in separate bombings and shootings in central Iraq. The attacks include a roadside bomb in the Abu Ghraib area, a drive-by shooting in the city of Ramadi and another roadside bomb in a village outside the city of Dujail.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. This is raising fears that the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007.

(Source: CNTV.cn)