Iraq violence: Dozens killed in blasts targeting Sunnis Published duration 17 May 2013

media caption Aleem Maqbool reports from Iraq, where he is told the country "has been to hell and back, several times"

More than 60 people have been killed and dozens hurt in several bomb attacks apparently targeting Sunnis, in Iraq's worst day of violence for months.

In the first attack, in Baquba, about 50km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, at least 41 people were killed when two bombs detonated outside a Sunni mosque.

Later, police said at least eight died at a Sunni funeral in Madain, and 14 more in two blasts in western Baghdad.

The attacks follows a sharp increase in sectarian violence in recent weeks.

A series of bombings targeted Shia areas across Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 120 people in total have died over the three days.

Mourners killed

In Friday's incident in Baquba, the first bomb went off as worshippers were leaving a Sunni mosque after Friday prayers. As people went to aid those injured, a second bomb was remotely detonated, said police.

Some 56 people were injured.

"I was about 30m (98ft) from the first explosion," student Hashim Munjiz told Reuters.

"When the first exploded, I ran to help them, and the second one went off. I saw bodies flying and I had shrapnel in my neck."

At least 20 people were wounded in the bomb attack in the town of Madain. Most of the victims were reported to have been mourners attending the funeral of a local mayor.

Another explosion in a Sunni-majority commercial area in the west of Baghdad killed more than 14 people, according to officials. At least 30 people were injured.

Other deadly attacks struck Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and Dora to the south of the capital.

The surge of violence across Iraq in the past month began after an army raid on a Sunni anti-government protest camp near the northern town of Hawija that left 50 people dead.