HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: Many of Hilla’s 130 martyrs were taken to the holy city of Najaf for burial later Tuesday, while thousands of mostly black-clad Iraqis demonstrated in the city of Hilla condemning foreign fighters and chanting "No to terrorism!"

Mourners were screaming and crying for their beloved sons while holding their photos during their funerals in Holy Najaf which houses the holy mausoleum of Al-Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (p).

An Internet statement purportedly by terrorist Abu Musab Az-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility of a car bombing Monday. The attacker detonated the bomb as a group of police and national guard recruits were lining up to take physicals at a medical clinic in Hilla.

Provincial Gov. Walid Al-Janabi said no funeral procession would be held in Hilla due to "security reasons." He did not elaborate, but police said they feared new attacks.

Police prevented people from parking cars in front of the clinic or the hospital, where authorities blocked hospital gates with barbed wire to stave off hundreds of victims' relatives desperate for information on loved ones.

Anxious for news of loved ones, they gathered around lists carrying the names of the dead and injured that were posted on hospital walls, screaming and wailing. They also went through victims' belongings, including identification cards, left in boxes nearby.

Hysterical relatives at the hospital morgue placed the dead into coffins and loaded them onto pickup trucks, taking them to city mosques and homes for washing and shrouding.

Many of the corpses, charred or dismembered, were unrecognizable, stuffed into white plastic bags. Other bodies lay on the ground in the open because the overwhelmed morgue had no place to store them.

“We blame Hilla police for this tragedy because they didn't take the necessary measures to protect innocent people,” said Hussein Hassoun, who lost two nephews who were standing in line for medical checkups, trying to join the local police force.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared national mourning on Wednesday March 2 for the Hilla martyrs and allocated one million and five hundred thousand dinars for martyrs’ families, while seventy-five thousand dinars for the injured. 

Hilla massacre toll climbing amid leaders’ condemnation HILLA, Iraq: A powerful car bombing in the town of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, on Monday left at least 130 people martyred and more than 170 wounded with toll rising. It was the single bloodiest attack in Iraq since the fall of tyrant Saddam.