World Bulletin / News Desk

A car bomb exploded near a market in a Shiite area of north Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 64 people, security and medical officials said.

The blast in the Sadr City area also wounded more than 82 people, the officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the ISIL group often carries out bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere, especially targeting Shiite Muslims, whom it consider heretics.

Iraqi forces have regained significant ground from ISIL, which overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014.

But the extremists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.