Suicide Bombers Attack Iraqi Funeral, Kill 72

Two suicide bombers, one in an explosives-laden car and the other on foot, struck a cluster of funeral tents packed with mourning families in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad today, one of the largest single terrorist assaults on civilians in Iraq in recent years. Police say at least 72 people were killed and more than 120 were wounded in the attack. One bomber was able to drive up near the tent before detonating his deadly payload shortly before sunset, while another on foot blew himself up nearby, according to authorities.

The explosions set the tents and several nearby cars on fire, sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city. One mourner says the first blast went off as dinner was being served in one of several tents set up for the funeral of a member of the al-Fartousi tribe. He estimated that more than 500 people were attending the event. "I saw several charred bodies on the ground and tents on fire and also burning cars. Wounded people were screaming in pain," says one of the mourners. "The scene was horrible. The funeral turned into an inferno." At least 24 others were also killed in suicide attacks around Iraq today. (More Iraq stories.)