Eight people were killed and 12 other injured on Thursday in a suicide bomb attack at a marketplace in Sadr City neighborhood in eastern the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua.

The incident occurred in the evening when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at Jamila popular market in Sadr City neighborhood, Ihsan Ali from Baghdad police said.

"The latest reports said that eight people were killed and 12 others wounded by the blast of the suicide bomber in Sadr City," Ali said.

The blast destroyed several nearby stalls and shops in the crowded Jamila market, Ali added.

The attack took place at rush time in the evening just after Iftar meal, or the break of the daylight fasting in holy month of Ramadan.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the area and prevented people from approaching the scene, while ambulances were moving to evacuate the victims.

Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for the security of Baghdad, confirmed the attack in a statement without giving further details.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for such deadly suicide attacks targeting security forces and areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

The security situation in Iraq has been improved since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

The IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. 

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