Two bombs including a suicide attack on a cafe killed 21 people in central Iraq on Monday evening, AP quoted officials as saying. They were the latest attacks in a months-long surge of violence. In the deadlier blast, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a cafe in Balad, 80 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, killing 15 people and wounding another 30, police said. About two hours later, six people were killed and 17 others wounded in a bomb explosion near a restaurant in the city of Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Two medical officials in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
