The death toll from a double suicide attack near a Shiite shrine in Baghdad has risen to 65, a defence ministry official said on Saturday, 24 hours after two female attackers caused the carnage.

"Sixty-five people are now confirmed killed and 120 were wounded," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The two women blew themselves up in a crowded market just outside the shrine -- one of the most revered Shiite holy sites in the world -- in the second attack on pilgrims in as many days.

Friday's bombing at the Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine in the historic and predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah in northern Baghdad came a day after a similar attack killed dozens in a northern town.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the "appalling" suicide bombings in Iraq on Thursday and Friday, saying their intention was to reignite violence in the country.