Bombing at Iraq funeral kills 20

At least 20 people have been killed and 35 others wounded in a suicide bombing at a Sunni funeral west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.

The bomber detonated his explosive belt in front of the mourners during an vigil in the village of Abu Minasir.

Police said the funeral was for the head teacher of a local school.

Earlier, an Iraqi soldier was killed and seven others wounded when a teenage girl blew herself up at an army post south of Baghdad, the US military said.

The bombings came hours after it was announced that Prime Minister Nouri Maliki was supervising an offensive against Sunni insurgents in the northern city of Mosul.

Mosul is seen as the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Sadr City truce

Elsewhere, there are growing concerns over a ceasefire agreed between the government and the Shia Mehdi Army militia to end weeks of fighting in the eastern Sadr City district of Baghdad.

The truce was called on Sunday, but was dependent on both sides fulfilling a number of obligations within a four-day period.

The government has accused the Mehdi Army, which is loyal to the cleric Moqtada Sadr, of not fully withdrawing from the area and not removing any of the roadside bombs it has planted, while the militia has accused US troops of continued harassment and targeted killings.

Some skirmishes were still reported overnight in Sadr City, with hospital officials saying five people had been killed.

More than a thousand people have been killed and 2,500 others injured, mainly civilians, in fighting between government forces and Shia militias in Baghdad and southern Iraq over the past seven weeks.