Car bombs explode south of Iraqi capital

Two car bombs have exploded south of Iraq’s capital, inflicting dozens of casualties, police and witnesses said today.

The bloodiest attack occurred in Hilla, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, where a suicide car bomber drove into a crowd of people applying for work at a government office.

Dozens of bodies could be seen laying on the ground after the blast, and half a dozen ambulances raced to the scene, witnesses said.

Severed legs, hands and human flesh were scattered around the area.

In a separate attack just north of Hilla, a car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint, killing at least one policeman and wounding several others, police said. That blast occurred in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad.