Baghdad restaurant blast kills 35

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in a crowded Baghdad restaurant frequented by the security forces during breakfast yesterday, killing 35 people and wounding at least 25 more, police said.

The bodies of 27 people who had been shot in the head were also discovered in open countryside south of the capital.

The grisly discovery of 27 bodies was made in the region of Jassan, near the town of Kut, according to army Colonel Badr al-Basri, who said the victims, whose hands and feet were bound, were dressed in civilians clothes.

"Body parts are all over the place, we are still collecting them," a police officer at the scene said.

It was one of the biggest attacks in the capital in recent months and came the day after at least six people were killed and 25 wounded by two car bombs in a mainly Shia area of Baghdad.

The police officer said at least four Iraqi police patrols were having their breakfast at the restaurant when the bomber struck. A police explosives expert on the scene said that the bomber was also carrying a bag full of explosives.

"A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest went into a restaurant," another police official said shortly after the loud blast which could be heard from several kilometers away, rocking the city shortly after 9:30 am (0630 GMT).

The official said the restaurant, which was crowded with diners, was known to be regularly frequented by Iraqi security forces.

One witness, Khadem Mohammed, said two Iraqi army cars had arrived at the restaurant around 15 minutes before the blast. "It targeted the Iraqi army, police and civilians because the restaurant was full of people," he said.

A police officer who identified himself only as Ahmed said: "We were on patrol ... We heard the blast and I was the first one to arrive on the scene. There were 32 dead and some of the wounded died while we were taking them to hospital."

Six more people died and 13 were wounded when a suicide driver detonated a car bomb outside an Iraqi army recruitment centre in Tikrit, Saddam's home town in the north of the country, police said.

Two more civilians were killed an hour later in the same spot when another bomb exploded, police added.

(Reuters, AFP)