Violence against Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq continues to escalate after nearly 50 died in two ISIS suicide attacks on Monday.
The larger of the two attacks killed at least 40 at a funeral in Muqdadiya, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. Among the dead were six local commanders of the Hashid Shaabi umbrella group of Shi'ite militia who were attending the funeral of a commander's relative, security officials and police in Diyala said.
The killing of the commanders, four of whom were from the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia and two from the Badr Organisation, is likely to inflame sectarian tensions.
Security officials and witnesses said the situation inside Muqdadiya was tense, with dozens of Shi'ite militia members out on the streets, but few security forces.
The town's police chief was wounded in clashes with militia fighters who had tried to seize suspected Islamic State militants from a prison in Muqdadiya, police sources said.
A separate attack in the western Baghdad outskirts of Abu Ghraib killed a further eight victims on Monday. The bombing followed an offensive by Islamic State militants on army and police positions in the same area on Sunday which left 24 people dead but was eventually repelled by counter-terrorism forces and army attack helicopters.
Monday's blasts follow the deadliest bombing inside the capital so far this year, which killed 78 people in a Shi'ite district on Sunday.
ISIS, the ultra-hardline Sunni group, have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Despite significant losses, the jihadist group still control large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
After Sunday's attacks ISIS circulated a statement using a derogatory term for Shi'ite Muslims: "Our swords will not cease to cut off the heads of the rejectionist polytheists, wherever they are".
