At least 30 people have been killed after a suicide bomb attack at a funeral in Baghdad.

Another 38 people were wounded on Tuesday in what is one of the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital for several months.

Police said two women were among the dead.

The funeral in the Zayouna district in the east of the city was being held for a man killed in a bomb attack three days earlier.

Iraq has seen a steep drop in overall violence since June last year, but US military statistics show the number of suicide bomb attacks has risen slightly since reaching a low in October.

Violent deaths among Iraqis fell to a 22-month low in December, figures obtained from the defense, interior and health ministries showed.

The 568 deaths - 480 civilians, 24 soldiers and 64 police -- showed a continuing fall from the previous month's figures - 606 in November, 887 in October and 840 in September.

Mirroring the fall in Iraqi deaths, combat losses among US troops also dropped to a 22-month low at 21 in December, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures, although 2007 remained the deadliest since the 2003 invasion.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraq map