Baghdad, Dec 24 : Five people were killed and 22 others wounded by an explosion Thursday in Sadr City in the east of Baghdad, security officials said.

The bomb went off during a funerary gathering in the impoverished, predominately Shia district of the Iraqi capital, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.

At least 27 people were killed Thursday in a wave of attacks across Iraq ahead of the Christmas holiday and in the propriety days prior to the Shia Muslim Ashura commemorations.(DPA)