Iraq car bombing causes carnage

A suicide car bomber blasted a crowd of police and national guard recruits recently, as they gathered for medicals outside a hospital in Hillah, 100km south of Baghdad, leaving at least 110 people dead and 133 injured. The blast was so powerful it nearly vaporised the bomber’s car, leaving only its engine partially intact. The injured were piled into pick-up trucks and ambulances and taken to nearby hospitals. Police said “several people” were arrested in connection with the blast, the biggest confirmed death toll in a single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The bombing comes as Iraqi groups are holding talks over forming a new, Shia-dominated government after the party won last month’s general election. The town where the attack occurred is mainly a Shia town.