Iraqi police and hospital officials say a car bomb in Baghdad has killed at least 23 people and wounded 45 others.

That attack on the night of March 20 targeted a commercial area in the Iraqi capital's southwestern Amil neighborhood.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but so-called Islamic State (IS) militants have been behind similar Baghdad bombings in the past.

The attack came as Iraqi forces engaged in fierce combat against IS militants in the government's U.S.-backed offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul.

Fighting on March 20 was continuing in an area near western Mosul's Old City.

The Mosul offensive began in October. Government forces declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January.

The government's urban offensive against IS militants in the more densely populated west of Mosul began in late January.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP