In Baghdad Car bomb attack claimed by Islamic State, 55 people dead and injures over 60

A car bomb at a Baghdad auto dealership killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 60 on Thursday, Iraqi officials said.

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 Shiites.

The US State Department condemned the attack at the car dealership, saying such attacks show the extremist group’s “utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people.”

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 on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, police and medical officials said.