US condemns suicide attack in Iraq

WASHINGTON - The US State Department on Wednesday strongly condemned a suicide bombing attack in northern Iraq that claimed dozens of lives.

"The United States stands with the Iraqi people and will continue to support the Government of Iraq, both against terrorist groups and to promote a religiously tolerant and diverse country," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

She expressed Washington's "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims.

Nuland also pledged that the US government will do its "utmost" to help Iraq bring those behind the terrorist attacks to justice.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral in a Shiite mosque in a city of northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 75 others.

According to media reports, violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraqi cities despite a dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed by sectarian killings.