Baghdad car bomb claimed by Islamic State kills 47

Smoke rises from the site of a suicide car bomb attack at a used cars dealers parking in Hayy al-Shurta, neighbourhood in southern Baghdad, Iraq on February 16, 2017.

A car bomb in Baghdad killed at least 47 people and wounded nearly more than 60 on Thursday, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan confirmed the toll from the attack, which took place in the southwestern al-Bayaa neighbourhood.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the bombing in an online statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency. The Sunni extremist group said it was targeting Shia Muslims.

Iraqi officials said the bomb targeted car dealerships in the mostly Shia neighbourhood.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, police and medical officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.