At least 47 people died when a fuel tanker blew up at a checkpoint outside the city of Hilla south of Baghdad today. Iraqi security officials have said thirty-nine of the dead were civilians, the rest are police. scores were injured in the blast. The attack occured 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.
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.