A car bomb that exploded in a central Baghdad district killed 18 people and wounded 45, according to Iraqi hospital and police officials.
The attack early on Sunday morning targeted the Karada district, a crowded commercial area frequented by young people and families after sundown during the holy month of Ramadan.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which often targets civilians in Baghdad’s mostly Shia neighbourhoods.
A witness said the explosion set off fires at nearby clothing and cell phone shops.
The Baghdad attack comes just over a week after Iraqi forces declared the city of Fallujah “fully liberated” from Isis. Over the last year Iraq forces have racked up territorial gains, retaking the city of Ramadi and the towns of Hit and Rutba, all in Iraq’s vast Anbar province west of Baghdad.
Despite the government’s battlefield victories Isis has repeatedly shown it remains capable of launching attacks far from the front lines.
It still controls Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as well as significant patches of territory in the country’s north and west.
At the height of the group’s power in 2014 Isis rendered nearly a third of the country out of government control. Now Isis is estimated to control only 14% of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.
Associated Press in Baghdad
