Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bomb that has killed at least 60 people after it was detonated in the Hilla province, south of the Iraqi capital, according to police.
Iraqi officials say the death toll has risen to 60 people, which includes at least 39 civilians, as a fuel tanker blew up as it approached the main checkpoint north of Hilla, according to Reuters. More than 70 people have also been injured following the blast.
"It's the largest bombing in the Hilla province to date," Falah Al-Radhi, head of the provincial security committee told Reuters. "The checkpoint, the nearby police station were destroyed as well as some houses and dozens of cars."
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) claimed responsibility on the Amaq news agency website, which supports the terrorist organization.
"A martyr's operation with a truck bomb hit the Babylon Ruins checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hilla, killing and wounding dozens," the statement on the Amaq website read, according to Reuters.
Iraq has seen an upsurge in violence over the last month, with a number of suicide attacks taking place in and around Baghdad.
Hilla, a largely Shiite city, is around 95 kilometers south of Baghdad.
In March 2014, the city was rocked by a car bomb, which killed 35 people and