A massive car bomb ripped through a used car market in southern Baghdad Thursday, killing at least 45 people in the deadliest such attack this year, security officials said. The Amaq propaganda agency linked to the Islamic State group (IS), which has claimed nearly all such attacks recently, reported the blast and described it as targeting "a gathering of Shias".
Mobile phone footage circulated on social media showed charred bodies and extensive destruction in the Bayaa neighbourhood where the explosion went off around 4:15 pm (1315 GMT).
"A terrorist car bomb attack struck near car dealerships in Bayaa and resulted in the deaths of 45 people," a spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement.
An interior ministry official gave the same figure and said at least 60 people were also wounded.
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