A suicide bomber set off an explosives-packed car outside a Baghdad hospital yesterday, killing 31 people in the capital’s deadliest day in a month, amid a political crisis that has stoked tensions.

The attack in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood, which also left 60 people wounded, came days after Al-Qaeda warned it would continue targeting Shiite Muslims and barely a month after US troops completed their withdrawal. It raised fresh concerns about the ability of domestic forces to provide security.

The 11 a.m. attack struck outside Zafraniyah hospital in east Baghdad as a funeral procession was transporting the bodies of a family who had been killed in the capital a day earlier.

Medical and security officials said at least 31 people were killed and 60 wounded. Eight security officers and four women were among those who died. Attacks elsewhere in Iraq left three dead and three hurt.

Helicopters flew overhead as a heavy security presence cordoned off the site of the explosion, while distraught witnesses screamed in anguish, surrounded by the remains of the dead, their clothes and shoes, and chunks of twisted metal. Outside the hospital, groups of men called out names, searching for missing relatives.

Inside, people crowded around medics to ask about their loved ones, but one nurse said simply: “I cannot tell you anything – there are only arms and legs, we do not know who they belong to.”

Nearby shops and houses were burned or destroyed, with many of their windows shattered, while an ambulance and several cars were completely burned out.