SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) - An opposition party on Sunday claimed there had been violations in the presidential and parliamenary elections in Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region but said it still expected a strong showing.

The opposition front called "Change" was at the heart of a push for reform in a bid to shake up the political establishment in Iraq’s three Kurdish-ruled provinces that have been dominated by two parties for decades.

The semiautonomous Kurdish region has largely escaped the violence that has plagued the rest of the country since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Underscoring the persistent dangers facing Iraqis elsewhere in the country, a suicide bomber struck a funeral in a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, killing as many as five people, including two policemen, according to authorities.

The attacker detonated his explosives belt at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday while mourners were gathered in a tent for the funeral of a police officer killed in a roadside bombing the night before in the Anbar province town of Khladiyah.

Two police officers and three civilians were killed in the suicide bombing, according to a policeman, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.