Attacks on diners, swimmers kill 10 in Iraq

BAGHDAD // Attacks in Iraq targeting diners in two cafes and swimmers in a stream killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, as violence surges during Ramadan.

Violence in Iraq is now at its deadliest level in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread bloodshed that pushed the country to the edge of civil war. More than 2,800 people have been killed since the start of April.

The deadlier of the two attacks took place late at night when a bomb went off inside a cafe packed with people in the city of Mosul, killing five and wounding 14.

Mosul, a former Al Qaeda stronghold, is 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad.

Shortly before midnight, a bomb exploded inside a cafe in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Azamiyah, killing one person and wounding six others, according to security officials.

In many Iraqi cities, cafes where people gather at night have become frequent targets of militants.

Hours earlier, police said a bomb exploded near a group of people who were swimming in a stream in Wajihiya, a town 80 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, killing two swimmers and two passers-by. The swimmers were trying to escape the summer heat.

Temperatures in Baghdad soared above 45 degrees celsius.

Earlier this week, a mortar attack on swimmers in the Tigris River killed four people

Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to reporters.