The death toll from a suicide car bombing south of Baghdad on Tuesday has risen to 12, police said.

An earlier report said at least eight were killed.

The blast occurred in the town of Hilla, 90 km south of Baghdad.

"Around 6:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), a suicide bomber drove an

explosive-laden car and blew up the vehicle near a car shop," a police source told Xinhua.

"Now the death toll has risen to 12, with over 30 other people injured," the source said, adding that all of them were civilians.

The town of Hilla has witnessed a number of bloody attacks in the past.

On Feb. 28, 2005, a car bomb attack at a medical center in Hilla killed more than 110 Iraqi civilians and wounded around 200, making the deadliest single attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003.

Source: Xinhua