UPDATE 3 - Car bombing kills at least 50 in Iraqi capital

*UPDATES WITH US CONDEMNATION, ADDS NAJAF ATTACK FROM SUNDAY

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD / ANKARA (AA) – Turkey strongly condemned bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday that killed at least 50 victims and injured dozens.

"We are sure that these kind of heinous attacks will not discourage the Iraqi government or the Iraqi people," a written statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, expressing condolences to the families of the victims.

"The cooperation between both countries to fight terrorism will continue to grow stronger," it added.

Earlier reports suggested at least 31 people were killed in a car bomb attack that shook the Shia majority Sadr City district, local Police Officer Ahmed Khalaf told Anadolu Agency.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but officials typically blame such attacks on the Daesh terror group that overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014.

Meanwhile, Baghdad Operations Command’s spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan said three separate bomb attacks caused a number of casualties in northern Baghdad.

Last Saturday, at least 27 people were killed -- and dozens more injured -- in twin bombings claimed by Daesh in the Iraqi capital. The following day a suicide bombing killed six policemen and injured dozens in Iraq’s southern city of Najaf.

Officials in Baghdad say such seemingly random attacks are retaliation by the terror group for an ongoing Iraqi army campaign aimed at recapturing the Daesh-held city of Mosul.

In Washington, the State Department condemned the Baghdad and Najaf attacks "in the strongest possible terms".

"These vicious acts of mass murder are a sobering reminder of the need to continue coalition operations against Da’esh and to eliminate the threat this terrorist group poses," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement reaffirming U.S. support for the Iraqi government.

He was using the State Department's preferred spelling for Daesh.