Blogger News Network

Iraqi authorities say a suicide car bomb explosion has killed at least 54 people in the predominantly Shi'ite southern city of Kufa.

Police say about 90 others were wounded Tuesday when the bomber detonated his explosives-filled vehicle among a crowd of mostly Shi'ite day laborers waiting for work.

The attack took place near the city's grand mosque, where several Iranian pilgrims were killed in an attack earlier this month.

Separately, officials in the southern port city of Basra say at least four Iraqis died and 10 others were wounded in a clash with British troops. Officials say the fighting erupted after British soldiers raided a suspected weapons site.

On Monday, at least 50 people were killed and scores of others wounded in a major attack on an open-air market in the town of Mahmoudiya, also to the south of Baghdad. Police said at least two suspected attackers were arrested.

In Baghdad, Shi'ite lawmakers close to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr walked out of a parliamentary session to protest the attack.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.