Death toll in IS-claimed Baghdad blast soars to 64

PanARMENIAN.Net - A car bomb at a crowded Baghdad market has killed at least 64 people, officials say, in one of the worst recent attacks in the Iraqi capital, according to BBC News.

At least 87 others were wounded in the blast in the Shia Muslim district of Sadr City during the morning rush hour.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said it had carried out the attack.

The Sunni Muslim group, which controls swathes of northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom it considers heretics.

Many of the victims included women and children, Iraqi police and medical sources said. Several of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

Pictures showed vehicles and the facades of several buildings heavily damaged.

In an online statement, IS said it had targeted Shia militiamen.