Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 34 at Baghdad Cafe

A roadside blast followed by a suicide bombing at a cafe in the Iraqi capital killed at least 34 people on Sunday, security and medical officials said.

The blasts in the Shiite-majority area of Al-Amil in south Baghdad also wounded at least 50 people, the officials said.

A police colonel said the first bomb exploded near the streetside cafe, after which a suicide bomber detonated explosives when people gathered at the scene.

Emergency personnel quickly cleaned the site of the explosions, leaving almost no evidence of the attack, while police commandos cordoned off the scene, an Agence France Presse journalist said.

Militants have repeatedly targeted cafes in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq this year, along with other areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, mosques and football fields.

Sunday's bombings came two days after a car bomb exploded near an ice-cream shop in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 16 people.

With the latest violence, more than 480 people have been killed in Iraq so far this month, and almost 5,200 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.