Two suicide bomb attacks near the entrance of a military base north of Baghdad and by a market in the Iraqi capital killed at least 18 people Thursday, police said.

Both explosions, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, occurred at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT).

The attack by the entrance of one of Iraq's largest military bases in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killed at least seven people and wounded 18, a police colonel said.

An interior ministry spokesman said soldiers were among the casualties.

A suicide bomb explosion in the capital's mostly Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadida killed at least 11 people and wounded 27, the same source said.

An AFP photographer on the scene said the blast caused widespread devastation in the area, which has been repeatedly hit.

A police humvee was badly damaged and several buildings were set on fire by the explosion.

A Baghdad health official confirmed the casualty figures for both attacks.

In a statement posted online, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks and named the two Iraqi suicide bombers.

Under heavy pressure on the battlefield, the jihadist organisation has struck back with bloody attacks in Baghdad.

The deadliest spate of bombings to hit the capital this year was in May when three attacks on the same day, including a devastating blast in Sadr City, killed close to 100 people.

The spike in Baghdad bombings added pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to declare the launch two weeks ago of an offensive to retake Fallujah, an IS bastion that lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital.

Rights group urges Iraq to probe Fallujah abuses
Baghdad (AFP) June 9, 2016 - The Iraqi government must deliver on its pledge to investigate reports of abuses committed by its forces against civilians during the operation to retake Fallujah, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Iraqi forces on May 22-23 launched a vast offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Sunni city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad is one of the jihadist organisation's most emblematic bastions and one of only two major urban hubs it still controls in Iraq.

"The Iraqi government needs to control and hold accountable its own forces if it hopes to claim the moral upper hand in its fight against (IS)," said Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director.

"It's high time for Iraqi authorities to unravel the web of culpability underlying the government forces' repeated outrages against civilians," a HRW statement quoted him as saying.

The operation to retake Fallujah has involved tens of thousands of government fighters, including from the police, army, counter-terrorism service and from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella that is dominated by Shiite militias.

HRW said it had conducted interviews corroborating allegations that members of the federal police and the Hashed al-Shaabi executed at least 17 people fleeing the fighting in Sijr, northeast of Fallujah.

The rights watchdog also listed reports of civilians being stabbed to death and others dying after being dragged behind cars in the Saqlawiya area, northwest of Fallujah.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi responded to mounting concern over reports of abuses earlier this week by promising to investigate and prosecute all such cases.

HRW also expressed concern over reports that IS was preventing civilians from fleeing areas it still controls by shooting and executing them.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq, has issued guidelines intended as a code of conduct for forces fighting IS and aimed at curbing abuses.