Around 30 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in a further escalation of violence in Iraq ahead of next week’s election The victims were on a bus in central Baghdad which was heading for the mainly Shi’ite city of Nassirya.

The bomber is said to have got onto the bus then detonated his device. At least 13 people were reported to have been injured in the blast. Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in the run-up to the ballot to elect Iraq’s first full-term parliament since the fall of Saddam Hussein. On Tuesday two suicide bombers killed at least 36 people in Baghdad.

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