Iraqi policeman
© Reuters
A car bomb that went off in Baghdad's Sadr City area has left at least 32 people dead and 61 wounded, AFP reported, citing police sources. Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the terrorists' news agency, Amaq, as cited by Reuters.

The attack targeted Shiite Muslims, it claimed.

Other sources told Reuters that at least 16 people were killed, while Egyptian TV As-Sumaria put the number at at least 20.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) frequently targets civilian locations in Iraq. Twenty-nine people were killed in three Baghdad bombings just on Saturday.



The string of attacks comes just days after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi said that it would take the Iraqi army backed by US-led coalition some three months to drive IS from the country.

Iraqi forces have been conducting an operation to retake Mosul, the Iraq's second largest city, from IS since October.

It has been reported that some 1.5 million civilians may still be trapped in the city, unable to flee.