At least 105 people have been killed and 250 wounded following a suicide truck bombing in northern Iraq.
The explosion occurred in a market in the town of Amirli, near Kirkuk.
The huge blast levelled houses and devastated the main market in the small rural community populated by Iraq's Shia Turkmen minority.
Over 40 homes, 20 shops and 10 vehicles were destroyed.
It is understood shrapnel from the blast killed shoppers hundreds of metres from the epicentre of the blast.
Many of the dead and wounded have been taken to various hospitals in the nearby town of Tuz Khurmatu and the regional capital, Kirkuk.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has condemned what he described as a 'heinous crime', saying that terrorists were the enemies of all Iraqis.
The attack is the deadliest since 18 April, when 190 people were killed in a spate of car bombings targeting Shia districts of Baghdad.
A so-called surge in US troop numbers has seen its forces take back control of certain areas of Baghdad.
However this move has had little effect outside of the capital and there are signs that insurgent groups are shifting their focus further north to avoid these operations.
