Suicide bomber kills 13 in cafe in central Iraq

By Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press

Published Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 | 10:17 a.m.

Updated Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 | 12:16 p.m.

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber killed 13 people in a cafe in a Shiite-majority town in central Iraq on Monday, officials said, the latest attack in a months-long surge of violence.

The evening blast inside a cafe in Balad, 80 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, wounded another 25 people, police said. Militants frequently attack Shiite civilian targets to undermine the government.

A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Meanwhile, Al-Qaida's branch in Iraq claimed responsibility for attacks that killed 69 people during the Muslim holiday following the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Last Saturday's attacks targeted mostly cafes and busy marketplaces. They were the latest in a wave of bloodshed that has swept Iraq since April, killing more than 3,000 people and worsening already strained ties between Iraq's Sunni minority and the Shiite-led government.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — as Iraq's al-Qaida affiliate is known — said in a statement on the Internet that the bombings were in retaliation for the arrests of hundreds of Muslims by Iraqi security forces.

The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed but it appeared on a website commonly used by militants.