(Updates death toll)

BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in a busy commercial area in southern Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 22, Iraqi police said.

They said women and children were among the victims of the attack at the Abu Dsheer neighbourhood, a mainly Shi'ite district on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital.

Seven vehicles were ablaze, police said.

Violence in Iraq has fallen to four-year lows in recent months but militants still carry out frequent large-scale bomb attacks.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities usually blame Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants for car bombs and suicide attacks against civilian targets.

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