Iraqi officials say at least 42 people have been killed and around 150 more injured in a suicide car bomb attack in the city of Hilla.
The death toll was expected to rise from the March 9 blast.
Police said the attacker detonated an explosive-rigged vehicle at a crowded security checkpoint.
Hilla, a predominantly Shi'ite town, is located some 95 kilometers south of the capital, Baghdad.
The blast followed a string of deadly attacks that killed at least 11 people across Iraq a day earlier.
A car bomb targeting a street full of shoppers in Baghdad killed six people and wounded 14 on March 8, police said.
Iraq has seen almost daily attacks in recent months, blamed on Sunni militants.
According to UN estimates, 8,868 people were killed in violence in 2013, Iraq's highest annual death toll in five years.
The death toll was expected to rise from the March 9 blast.
Police said the attacker detonated an explosive-rigged vehicle at a crowded security checkpoint.
Hilla, a predominantly Shi'ite town, is located some 95 kilometers south of the capital, Baghdad.
The blast followed a string of deadly attacks that killed at least 11 people across Iraq a day earlier.
A car bomb targeting a street full of shoppers in Baghdad killed six people and wounded 14 on March 8, police said.
Iraq has seen almost daily attacks in recent months, blamed on Sunni militants.
According to UN estimates, 8,868 people were killed in violence in 2013, Iraq's highest annual death toll in five years.