Car bomb in Baghdad's Sadr City kills 22

A car bomb claimed by Islamic State in a Shi'ite Muslim district of Baghdad killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 60 others on Wednesday, Iraqi police and hospital sources said.

The SUV packed with explosives went off near a beauty salon in a bustling market at rush hour in Sadr City. Most of the victims were women, the sources said.

Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said a suicide bomber had targeted Shi'ite militia fighters.

The ultra-hardline Sunni jihadist group, which considers Shi'ites apostates, claimed a twin suicide bombing in Sadr City in February that killed 70 people.

Sectarian violence also threatens to undermine efforts to dislodge the militant group from vast areas of the north and west of Iraq that they seized in 2014.