15 people, including a provincial councillor, were killed and 70 wounded in a twin bomb attack on Thursday in Hilla, south of Baghdad, an Iraqi security source said.
‘F15 people, including provincial councillor Neemat al-Bakri, were killed and 70 wounded in the explosion caused by a car bomb and a mine,’ said an interior ministry source.
Mr Bakri was a member of the multi-confessional alliance formed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to contest parliamentary elections scheduled for March next year.
Also identified among those killed was Colonel Taleb al-Chamri, a police officer in charge of local efforts to eradicate improvised explosive devices.
The attack took place in a car park in the centre of Hilla, a mainly Shiite town that is the capital of Babil province.
Witness Fadel Hassa, 25, who has a shop nearby, said a car had stopped at the Babel Hussein bus station around 1.30 pm (10.30am Irish time) and that the explosion had occurred within moments.
