Iraq official: Suicide bomber targets coffee shop in Shiite town north of Baghdad, killing 13

10/5/2013

BAGHDAD — The mayor of a largely Shiite town north of Baghdad says a suicide bomber has blown himself up inside a cafe there, killing at least 13 in the latest lethal attack to strike Iraq.

Balad Mayor Malik Lefta says the bomber blew himself up inside a coffee shop in the center of the town. He gave the death toll and said at least 22 people were wounded in today’s attack. Balad is 50 miles north of Baghdad

The bombing follows earlier attacks that killed at least eight people.

The killings are part of the deadliest surge in bloodshed to hit Iraq in five years, raising fears that the country is falling back into the spiral of violence that brought it to the edge of civil war in the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.