DHAKA: At least 46 people have been killed in a series of bombings in central Iraq, police and medical officials say.

Eighteen died in an attack on a funeral for a pro-government Sunni militiaman in a village south of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.

Seven car bombs meanwhile exploded across Baghdad, killing at least 28 people and wounding dozens more.

There has been a surge in sectarian violence across Iraq in the past year, reaching levels not seen since 2007.

The United Nations says 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces died in 2013. December alone saw at least 759 killed.

In Wednesday’s deadliest incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a funeral tent in the village of Buhriz where mourners were marking the death two days ago of a member of a local Sahwa, or Awakening Council, set up Sunni Arab tribesmen to fight al-Qaeda.

BDST: 1946 HRS, JAN 15, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor