At least 47 people were killed when two car bombs exploded in a Shia neighbourhood in the Iraqi capital, medical and security officials have said.

Police said the first attack on Wednesday evening was a double car bombing in a shopping area of Sadr City in the east of Baghdad.

Late on Wednesday, another car packed with explosives detonated in the nearby neighbourhood of Ur, also predominantly Shia.

Baghdad has been on edge since Sunni rebels led by the Islamic State group seized the northern city of Mosul in June and threatened the capital.

In a separate development, the Iraqi military on Wednesday dropped barrel bombs on a hospital in the city of Fallujah. At least five people were killed, according to some reports.

The use of barrel bombs - oil drums filled with explosives and scrap metal - is considered a war crime because the crude weapons kill indiscriminately.