IS Baghdad car bomb death toll at 59

The death toll from an Islamic State car bomb that went off in Baghdad has climbed to 59.

Municipality workers clean up the aftermath of a suicide car bomb attack at a used cars dealers parking lot in Baghdad Source: AAP

The death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighbourhood has reached 59 with 66 more confirmed injured. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the attack.

The Islamic State, in a statement issued early on Friday, said its fighters detonated a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police neighbourhood, south of Baghdad on Thursday.

Baghdad has been the scene of near daily bomb attacks claimed by the Islamic State group in what is seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants cede territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.