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Al Jazeera, 16 Feb 2017
Baghdad has been hit by a series of suicide bombings in the new year [Ahmad Mousa/AFP]Baghdad has been hit by a series of suicide bombings in the new year [Ahmad Mousa/AFP]
A car packed with explosives has blown up in the south of Baghdad, killing at least 55 people and wounding dozens more.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack that came amid a renewed wave of violence in the Iraqi capital.

Security sources said the vehicle which blew up was parked in a crowded street full of garages and used car dealers, in Hayy al-Shurta in the southwest of the city.

Medical sources confirmed the death toll to Al Jazeera.

Previous attack

A day earlier, a  suicide bomber detonated a pick-up truck on Wednesday in Baghdad's Sadr City suburb, killing at least 15 and wounding 50 more.

On Tuesday, a car bomb explosion in southern Baghdad killed at least four people.

ISIL, also known as ISIS, has stepped up bombings in Iraq in retaliation for a US-backed campaign that dislodged the group from most Iraqi cities it took over in 2014.

Its fighters also control parts of neighbouring Syria.

Baghdad was rocked by a wave of deadly suicide bombings during the first days of 2017, but relatively few explosions had been reported since.