Baghdad, July 25 (IANS): At least 12 people were killed and 25 injured on Monday in a suicide car bomb attack in Iraq's Diyala province, officials said.

"The latest report said 12 people, including three women and two children, were killed," Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack took place when a suicide bomber drove his vehicle loaded with explosives into a crowded checkpoint in Khalis town, the official said.

The blast set 13 vehicles on fire and damaged many others. The death toll could rise as many people were critically injured.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State militant group has been behind most of similar suicide attacks in the past.

This attack follows a suicide bombing in Baghdad by the IS which killed 21 people and injured 35.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of violence since the IS took control of parts of the country's northern and western regions in June 2014.

In June, according to estimates by the UN Assistance Mission, 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict across the country.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence and the emergence of extremist groups such as the IS on the US which invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the pretext of seeking to destroy weapons of mass destruction in the country.

The US invasion led to the ouster and eventual execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but no WMD was found.