Suicide bomb kills dozens in Iraq

A suicide car bomber set off his explosive-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla on Sunday, killing at least 42 people and wounding at least 115, officials said. The attack was the latest in a string believed designed to destabilize the country in the run-up to scheduled elections.

The explosion went off at the main checkpoint at a northern entrance to the largely Shia Muslim city during morning rush hour as dozens of cars were waiting to be searched. The bomb killed 21 civilians, including a woman and a 12 year old, and 15 security personnel, two police officers said told the Associated Press, and wounded at least 115 other people. 

Reuters reported a death toll of at least 44 with 157 people wounded.

Police say the victims' burns suggested the bomber packed his car with liquid fuel, probably gasoline.

At least 50 cars were set ablaze with passengers trapped inside and part of the checkpoint complex was destroyed, an officer told Reuters.

Iraq has seen a spike in violence since last April, with the death toll climbing to its highest levels since the worst of the country's sectarian bloodletting in 2006 though 2008. The U.N. says 8,868 people were killed in 2013, and more than 1,400 people were killed in January and February of this year.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda breakaway group that frequently uses car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas and government buildings in their bid to undermine confidence in the government.

Wire services