Iraq violence: Dozens dead in Hilla truck bombing

[Anthea]

BBC News

Iraq violence: Dozens dead in Hilla truck bombing

At least 47 people died when a fuel tanker blew up at a checkpoint outside the city of Hilla south of Baghdad, Iraqi security officials have said.

Thirty-nine of the dead were civilians, the rest police, one report said. Dozens were injured in the blast.

The attack happened shortly after noon local time (0900 GMT) while dozens of cars were at the checkpoint.

The so-called Islamic State said it had carried out the attack, in a post on the pro-IS Amaq news agency website.

"A martyr's operation with a truck bomb hit the Babylon Ruins checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hilla, killing and wounding dozens," Reuters quoted the group's statement as saying.

Iraq has seen a rise in violence in the past month, with suicide attacks killing more than 100 people.

Fifty people were killed and more than 150 injured in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Hilla in March 2014.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35739729