BAGHDAD — A bomb struck a crowded coffee shop late Friday in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, killing at least 19 and wounding more than two dozen in the latest in a string of attacks in Iraq since the start of the holy month of Ramadan this week.
More than 2,600 people have been killed since the start of April, raising fears that Iraq is once again edging toward the brink of civil war a decade after Saddam Hussein was toppled.
The blast exploded in the Classico Cafe in southern Kirkuk as patrons were enjoying tea and water pipes hours after the sunset meal that breaks the daylong Ramadan fast, police said.
In addition to those killed, the attack wounded 26, a police officer and a hospital official said. It brought to 24 the number of people killed in attacks in the country on Friday.
Earlier in the day, a car bomber struck a police patrol outside Mosul, killing four officers, a medical official said.