国际英语新闻:39 killed, 26 wounded in separate attacks across Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 39 people were killed and 26 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Friday, police said.

The deadliest attack took place Friday evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a cafe in Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, killing 33 people and injuring 26 others, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Many young men were playing the Al-Muhaibis, or Ring Game, which is very popular in Iraq during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, inside the Classico Cafe in the Wahid Huzayran area in southwestren Kirkuk when the attacker set off his explosive belt.

Earlier in the day, three people were killed in the northern province of Nineveh while two people were killed in the eastern province of Diyala, the source said, adding that a police officer was also killed in the northern province of Salah ad-Din.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the al-Qaida front in Iraq, in most cases, is responsible for such violent acts in the country.

High-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease since their peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

On Thursday, at least 62 people were killed and 139 others wounded in a wave of violent attacks across the country, many of them were members of Iraqi security forces.