Off the wire
• China on blue alert for cold snap  • Spotlight: In white-dominated Hollywood, Chinese filmmakers face difficulties, opportunities  • Drones to assist Australian firefighters  • Roundup: S.Korea, U.S. kick off largest-ever war games after DPRK's nuke, rocket launch  • 1st LD Writethru: Sanders wins Maine Democratic caucuses  • Aussie ambulance officers "blacklist" 1,200 locations after repeated assaults  • Tomic tirade against Kyrgios should be praised not pilloried  • Feature: Bangladesh's forward-thinking youngsters see China as path to bright future  • Xinhua China news advisory -- March 7  • Venezuela pays tribute to late revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez  
You are here: 　 Home

2nd LD Writethru: Truck bomb kills at least 51 people near Iraqi capital

Xinhua, March 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 51 people were killed and some 70 others wounded on Sunday in a suicide truck bomb attack on a security checkpoint in the city of Hilla, capital of Iraq's central Babil province, a local security source told Xinhua.

"The reports said that the casualties from the suicide truck bomb attack in Hilla security checkpoint rose to 51 deaths and 70 injuries," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in an online statement circulated by supporters.

"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," said a statement on the website of the Amaq news agency, which supports the IS.

The attack occurred around noon when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into the crowded al-Athar security checkpoint at the northern entrance of Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, the source said.

The massive blast destroyed the checkpoint buildings and left dozens of vehicles badly damaged, while many civilian cars were set ablaze, the source said, adding that most of the victims were civilians who were inside their cars while queuing at the crowded checkpoint.

A provincial hospital official confirmed the number of casualties, saying that 23 of them were members of the police and other security forces that were manning the checkpoint.

The suicide attack is the second deadliest this year after the one on Feb. 28 that killed 78 people in Sadr City, a Shi'ite district of Baghdad. It appeared to be part of a campaign by the IS to stage attacks deep behind front lines in order to wreak havoc and force the government to overextend its forces.

Iraq has seen a spike in violence in the past month, with suicide attacks claimed by the IS killing more than 170 people.

The IS has frequently targeted areas where large crowds gather, including checkpoints, markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq. Endi