A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral tent in a village near the town of Edheim in Diyala province on Thursday, killing at least 50 mourners and wounding more than 20 others, police said.

"A suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at about 11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) at a funeral in the Albu Muhammad village, some 120 km north of Baghdad, killing at least 50 and wounding more than 20 others," the source from the neighboring Salahudin province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A source from Diyala police command told Xinhua that the suicide bomber targeted the funeral of two brothers affiliated to local Awakening Council group and had been killed two days ago.

The Diyala source put the death toll at least 30 and dozens of mourners wounded.

The Sunni Arab village where the bombing took place situated at the edge of Diyala province near Salahudin. The area is a hot spot where Iraqi government-backed tribesmen fight militants of the al- Qaida in Iraq network.

The attack is the most deadliest one in April in Diyala after an earlier attack in the month that killed 20 people and wounded 30 others when a suicide bomber struck mourners at a cemetery in the town of al-Sadiyah, some 120 km northeast of Baghdad.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border in the east, is the hot bed for sectarian violence and a major stronghold for al-Qaida network.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2008)