Suicide car bombing kills at least 8 people in Baghdad

Iraqi security forces, with allied Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces and Sunni tribal fighters, gather ahead of an operation aimed at re-taking the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah, outside Fallujah, Iraq, Sunday, May 29, 2016. Teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi government launched a large-scale offensive to dislodge IS militants from the city of Fallujah, one of the last major IS strongholds in Iraq located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

Smoke rises as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive into Fallujah to retake the city from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Monday, May 30, 2016. An Iraqi special forces commander says they have started pushing into Fallujah as part of the ongoing operation to oust Islamic State militants from this city west of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

Smoke rises from an explosion during an offensive by Iraqi military forces into Fallujah to retake the city from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Monday, May 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (The Associated Press)

Iraqi officials say a suicide car bombing has targeted an army checkpoint in Baghdad, killing at least eight people.

A police officer says the bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the checkpoint near a commercial area in the northern, Shiite-dominated Shaab neighborhood of the Iraqi capital on Monday morning.

He says five civilians and three soldiers were killed and up to 14 people were wounded

A medical official confirmed casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group. The attack comes as Iraqi forces are poised to push into Fallujah to retake the city west of Baghdad from IS militants.