The Muslim Scholars Association, a powerful Sunni religious group, strongly condemned on Wednesday the suicide car bombing in Hilla which left 125 people dead and 130 wounded on Monday.
"The Muslim Scholars Association strongly condemns the terrorist attack that took place in Hilla which led to the death of many innocent people of our country," the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the association called for an end of all terrorist attacks on the Iraqi civilians.
"The association announces that terrorist acts targeting innocent Iraqis should be forbidden, no matter who are behind the attacks and what are the excuses for them," added the statement.
These attacks would only worsen the situation in Iraq, said the group, adding that shedding more Iraqi blood would only increase the sufferings of the Iraqi people and open doors for "the enemies of the country to carry out their malicious schemes."
The religious body also sent "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims in the incident.
The al Qaeda allied group led by the Jordanian extremist Abu Musaab Al Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Hilla, a largely Shiite town 100 km south of Baghdad.
The Muslim Scholars Association has boycotted the Jan. 30 parliamentary elections, which the Shiite dominated United Iraqi Alliance won a landslide victory.