A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives killed at least 34 people and wounded 121 others at a police checkpoint in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla , police officials said on Sunday . Iraq has been beset with political and sectarian violence for months . More than 700 Iraqis were killed and nearly 1,400 others were wounded in terrorist attacks and other violence in February , the United Nations has said . Militants took over a city council building days before . Sunday 's attack happened at the entrance of the city , the police officials told CNN . Hilla is a predominantly Shiite Muslim city about 100 kilometers ( 60 miles ) south of the capital , Baghdad . Two Iraqi journalists who worked at state-run Iraqiya TV died in the attack , the station reported . Violence has raged in the country in the past year , often pitting Sunnis -- a minority in Iraq -- against Shiite Muslims , who came to dominate the government after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003 . The United Nations said 2013 was the deadliest year in Iraq since 2008 , with almost 8,000 people killed . Security forces have also been fighting insurgents from the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in western Anbar province , which borders Syria .
121 people killed , At least 34 wounded in suicide attack . Suicide bomber attacks police checkpoint in Hilla . Syria has been beset with political and sectarian violence for the deadliest year .