Baghdad, May 11: A suicide bomber detonated himself outside a textile factory where crowds had gathered shortly after two car bombs went off at the same spot in the worst of a series of attacks that killed at least 102 people wounded 350 as of the latest reports across Iraq, the deadliest day this year.
At least 40 were killed and 135 wounded immediately in the triple blasts outside the textile factory in the city of Hillah south of Baghdad, said Muthana Khalid, spokesman for the Babil provincial police.
Zuhair al Khafaji, director of al-Hillah general hospital, confirmed the casualties.
Khalid said the man, who had explosives strapped to his belt, detonated himself among a crowd of people who were trying to help victims of the two earlier car bombs. The bombs exploded around 1:30 pm local time as workers were leaving the factory.
Police said the cars were parked outside the factory, about 25 yards apart, and were believed to be detonated by remote control.
Hillah, Babil’s provincial capital, is 95 kilometers south of Baghdad.
It was the latest and deadliest single attack in the spate of violence across Iraq the day that began in Baghdad with early morning drive-by shootings and bombings at security checkpoints — an apparent targeted assault on police and army forces.
Overall, however, the attacks appeared to be indiscriminate.
They targeted Sunni and Shiite areas alike and delivered a chilling reminder that Iraq is far from free of violence despite security gains by Iraqi and US forces to protect the country from insurgents.
Violence in the city and the rest of the country has fallen dramatically since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007.
—Agencies