At least eight people have been killed and 18 others wounded after a car bomb exploded in the Shia district of Kadhimiya in the northwest of Iraq's capital, police say.

The attack on Tuesday comes one day after a string of such attacks that killed 34 people across Baghdad.

Police said the number of casualties was preliminary and could rise.

US and Iraqi officials blamed Monday's series of bombings on al-Qaeda. which has been accused of targeting Shia areas in the past.

The latest attacks underscore the challenges Iraqi security forces face as US combat troops prepare to withdraw by August 31, 2010, with all US troops due to leave by the end of 2011.

Bombings continue on an almost daily basis in Iraq, despite the sharp fall in violence.

The last large bomb blast in Baghdad killed 20 people in a shopping district on March 26.

Preventing all car bombs in the crowded streets of Baghdad - a maze of crumbling buildings and concrete walls housing millions of people - is all but impossible.