Escalating violence: IS truck bomb kills 60 in Iraq

At least 70 more wounded in suicide attack at checkpoint south of Baghdad

HILLA:

A truck bomb at an Iraqi checkpoint south of Baghdad killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 70 on Sunday, medical and security officials said.

The Islamic State group (IS) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Hilla, 117 kilometres south of Baghdad, involving an explosive-laden fuel tanker. The attack is the second deadliest this year after one on February 28 that killed 78 people in Sadr City district of Baghdad. That attack was also claimed by the ultra-hardline group that controls vast swathes of territory in Iraq and in Syria.

The escalation in Islamic State bombings suggests that Iraqi government forces are being stretched thin after their recent gains against the group in the western and northern provinces.

Responsibility for the Hilla bombing was claimed in a posting on the website of the Amaq news agency, which supports IS.

"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," the statement on the Amaq website said.

"It's the largest bombing in the province to date," Falah al Radhi, the head of the provincial security committee, told Reuters. "The checkpoint, the nearby police station were destroyed as well as some houses and dozens of cars."

A provincial hospital official confirmed the number of casualties, adding that 23 of them were members of the police and other security forces that were manning the check point located at the northern entrance of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2016.