Dozens dead in wave of car bomb attacks in Baghdad

At least 33 people died in a series of car bombs in Baghdad on Tuesday, the worst of which killed 21 and injured 80 others at an ice-cream shop during Ramadan celebrations.

Islamic State claimed the attack, in the Karrada area at about midnight, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi who detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle.

Hours later, the AFP news agency reported five people killed and 17 injured in a blast near al-Shuhada bridge, one of the city's main crossing points.

A third blast near a government office in Karkh district killed seven and wounded 38 others, Reuters reported. No group has claimed the two later attacks.

Photos and videos shared on Twitter of the site of the Karrada attack showed car debris and raging fires.

One picture showed cups of ice cream scattered on the blood-stained ground following the attack.

Brett McGurk, the envoy to the US-led anti-IS coalition, condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Iraq.

"ISIS terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children & families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand w/Iraq against this evil," McGurk said on Twitter, using an alternate acronym for IS.

Last year, also during Ramadan, an IS suicide bomber killed more than 300 people in Karrada in one of deadliest attacks against Iraqi civilians since the 2003 US-led invasion.