Car bomb in Iraq livestock market kills 12

A car bomb exploded in a livestock market in Iraq’s southern Babil province on Thursday, killing 12 people, wounding 40 and shattering a peace that had held in the area for some time, police said.

The blast in Hamza, a mostly Shi’ite Muslim town 130 km (80 miles) south of Baghdad, occurred in a region that has been relatively quiet for months amid a general decline across Iraq in the violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. (IHT)