Dozens Killed, Wounded in Fuel Truck Bombing in Iraq

VOA News
Last Updated: 6 March 2016

A suicide attack in the Iraqi city of Hilla on Sunday has killed at least 47 people and wounded scores of others.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

A police official said the attacker drove an explosives-filled fuel truck into a security checkpoint about 115 kilometers south of Baghdad. The checkpoint was filled with dozens of cars awaiting entrance into the city.

Civilians and security personnel were among the dead. More than 40 people were wounded.

The militant group has been battling Iraq's government since overrunning several cities in 2014.

The Iraq Body Count project, which maintains a database of civilian deaths in Iraq since 2003, reports more than 2,000 civilians killed since the beginning of the year.

Some material for this report came from AP and AFP.