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BAGHDAD, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 15 people and wounded 10 when he blew himself up at a funeral ceremony in the northern Iraqi city of Baiji on Monday, a security official said.

The attack is the latest in a spate of deadly bombings in Iraq's northern provinces, where the U.S. military says al Qaeda militants have regrouped after being forced out of other areas.

The bomber walked into a tent where residents were mourning the death of a relative of a provincial official.

Baiji, home to Iraq's biggest oil refinery, has been the scene of a number of bombings in the past few months. On Dec. 25, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 people in the city, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad.

The commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Major-General Mark Hertling, said last month that Sunni Islamist al Qaeda was regrouping in northern Iraq after being pushed out of Baghdad and western Anbar province and was still capable of launching "spectacular attacks".

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