Baghdad's Shiite al-Rashidiya district bombed second day in a row

BAGHDAD, July 13 (UPI) -- At least eight people died Wednesday in a suicide bombing in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite al-Rashidiya district one day after a similar bombing in the same district.

At least 11 people were also injured when a suicide bomber slammed his car into a security checkpoint and and detonated an explosive in the northern district. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Tuesday, at least 12 people were killed when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb in a pickup truck during morning rush hour at an outdoor market in al-Rashidiya. No group claimed responsibility for the Tuesday attack but the Islamic State has a history of carrying out similar attacks in the region. The Islamic State is predominantly a Sunni militant group, which considers Shiites to be heretics.

Baghdad has been targeted in increasingly devastating attacks against civilians in 2016 as the Islamic State loses the ground war against Iraqi security forces and the U.S.-led coalition. A report by IHS indicates the militant group has lost about 12 percent of its territory in Iraq and Syria.

On July 2, the militant Islamist group carried out a bombing in a Baghdad shopping area that killed nearly 300 people. The massive truck bomb was detonated ahead of the Eid al-Fitr celebration, which ends the holy month of Ramadan.

The United Nations estimates 662 Iraqis were killed -- 236 of which in Baghdad -- in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June.