DHAKA: Islamic State militants claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an overnight suicide bombing in a Shia district of Baghdad which killed 33 people, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the Iraqi capital.

The hardline Sunni Islamist group which has led an offensive through northern and western Iraq said the explosion in Kadhimiya, site of a major Sha shrine, was carried out by a fighter it named as Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Tunisi (the Tunisian).

Officials initially put the death toll from the bomb at 23, but hospital and morgue officials said on Wednesday morning it had risen to 33, with more than 50 wounded.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings in Baghdad, including several blasts on Saturday which killed 27 people, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1516 HRS, JUL 23, 2014