A suicide bomber killed at least seven people north of Baghdad on Wednesday, security and medical sources said, in the second bombing claimed by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in the district in as many days.
Eleven others were injured when the attacker detonated his car, laden with explosives, at a checkpoint.
IS, which regularly carries out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014, said in an online statement it had targeted the army, Reuters reported.
A similar attack in Rashidiya on Tuesday, also claimed by the extremist group, killed nine people. A suicide bombing in the central Karrada district on July 3, claimed by IS, killed at least 292, making it one of the worst among the hundreds of such attacks carried out in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.
It prompted a public outcry in Baghdad, with residents blaming the government for not protecting the capital.
IS has been turning increasingly to suicide bombings, which US and Iraqi officials have touted as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening the militants.
In a US-backed offensive, the Iraqi Army has recaptured the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS in recent months. The government said Fallujah had been a launchpad for the group’s Baghdad suicide bombings.
