Two car bombs detonated by Islamic State militants killed at least 26 people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday.

The first attack targeted a crowded market in al-Bayaa, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in the southwest of the city. At least 20 people were killed and 48 wounded, according to local officials.

A few hours later, a second car bomb went off in the northeastern neighborhood of al-Shaab, leaving at least eight people dead and 22 injured, police said. Also mostly populated by Shiites, the area has been regularly attacked by the militant fighters.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for both bombs. The jihadists regularly target Shiite areas in attempt to destabilize the Shiite-led government.

Their fighters currently control about a third of Iraq and Syria in their self-declared "caliphate." The Iraqi government and allied forces are fighting to reclaim the lost territory, with the help of US-led airstrikes on Islamic State targets.

Last Friday, the radical Sunni group struck at a popular market in eastern Diyala province, killing 115 people and wounding more than 170 others. Again most of the victims were Shiite.

That bombing was one of the largest single attacks in the country over the past decade.

mm/bw (AP, Reuters)