At least 51 people were killed and 60 others wounded in a car bomb in Baghdad on Thursday, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan confirmed the toll from the attack, which took place at an auto dealership in the southwestern al-Bayaa neighborhood.
The Islamic State group claimed the bombing in an online statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency. The Sunni extremist group said it was targeting Shiite Muslims.
Iraqi officials said the bomb targeted car dealerships in the mostly Shiite neighborhood.
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 US-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.
Another four attacks in and around Baghdad today 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.
(With AP inputs)
