Twin car bombs at a factory, followed by a suicide attack against emergency workers, and co-ordinated blasts targeting security forces killed 102 people on Monday in Iraq's bloodiest day this year. Nearly 350 people were wounded in more than 20 attacks nation-wide, a surge in violence that came as Iraq moved closer to getting a new government two months after an election seen as crucial to US combat troops leaving the country by August 31.
The deadliest attack saw two explosives-packed vehicles detonated minutes apart in the car park of a textiles factory in the central city of Hilla, 95 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad, as workers boarded buses to go home. About an hour later, a massive blast, which an interior ministry official said was a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-filled belt, engulfed the area as emergency service workers treated victims at the scene.