Huge truck bomb in Baghdad market kills 67

At least 67 people were killed in Baghdad on Thursday after a massive truck bombed ripped through a food market.

Around 200 people were wounded in the blast in Sadr City, a district of Iraq's capital, according to Reuters, which put the death toll higher at 76. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militant group frequently targets predominantly Shiite neighborhoods such as Sadr City, with the goal of sending a message to the Shiite-dominated government.

The Sunni militants currently hold territory in about a third of Iraq.

The United States strongly condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the family and friends of the victims.

"These atrocities show once again the utter disregard ISIL has for innocent civilians, including women and children," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "As Iraqis unite against ISIL and turn the tide on the battlefield, ISIL will try to maintain its campaign of terror to sow discord among the Iraqi people."

Last month, an attack by the Islamic State group on a crowded marketplace in Iraq's eastern Diyala province killed 115 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest single attacks in the nation in the past decade.

“This is the strongest explosion I ever saw in my life,” Hassan Hamid, 37, a minibus driver and  father of three, told the Associated Press after Thursday's attack.

Hamid was speaking from his hospital bed where he was being treated for shrapnel injuries after the force of the explosion threw him about 10 yards.

“I saw cars thrown into the sky and a fire erupted all over the place,” he said.