Baghdad blast
© Ammar Karim / Facebook
Two blasts have ripped through busy market areas in Baghdad, Iraq's capital, killing around 80 people and injuring 160. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for one of the attacks.

Over 160 others were also injured, AP reported citing hospital and police sources. Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan confirmed that the attack was a car bomb.

Eyewitnesses reported on Twitter that many shops burned down in the explosion. Many also fear the number of casualties could grow.

Karrada, the upper middle class district of the Iraqi capital, is mostly inhabited by Shia but also has quite a large Christian minority. The area gets really busy after sunset during the holy month of Ramadan.

However, the tactics resemble Islamic State's signature, as the terrorists frequently choose Shia-populated civilian areas in the capital as their targets.

Earlier this week, a suicide attack west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killed at least 12 people and injured another 32. An attacker wearing a suicide vest targeted a Sunni mosque in Abu Ghraib.

Islamic State recently suffered ground losses, as it was pushed out of Fallujah by Iraqi forces. However, the terrorist group still controls Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, located in northern Iraq.