At least 16 people were killed and 41 wounded on Monday, Aug 12, in a suicide bomb attack on a crowded cafe in Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, part of the worst wave of violence in Iraq in around five years, Reuters reported.
Two roadside bombs – one planted near a playground and another near a school – also killed six people and wounded dozens, some of them children, in the town of Muqdadiya, 80 km northeast of the capital.
Those blasts underlined a shift in tactics by suspected Islamist militants, who are increasingly targeting not only military checkpoints and marketplaces, but also cafes and recreational areas used by families and children.
The latest bloodshed came as al Qaeda claimed responsibility for weekend bombings across Iraq which killed dozens of people during Eid al-Fitr, the festive end to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, heightening fears of even wider sectarian slaughter.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), formed earlier this year through a merger of al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said on jihadist forums it was behind the attacks across Baghdad and southern provinces on Saturday.
It also warned the government to stop arresting suspected militants or face more violence.
"The Islamic State deployed some of its security efforts in Baghdad and the southern province and other places to deliver a quick message," ISIL said, according to the SITE Monitoring group, which tracks jihadist websites.
