At least 8 people were killed in Iraq from a car bomb explosion at a police checkpoint south of Baghdad Thursday, according to Agence France Presse.
The explosion was reported five kilometers north of Hillah. 20 other people were also wounded in the attack.
The blast arrives less than a week before the April 30 parliamentary elections, which is considered to serve "as a major test for security forces" since the withdrawal of American forces in 2011.
More than 2,750 people have died already this year as sectarian tensions rise ahead of the elections, driven primarily by growing violence between the Sunni Arab minority and the Shiite-led government.
