BAGHDAD

Suicide bomber kills 26, 10 people die elsewhere

A suicide bomber attacked a park in northern Baghdad crowded by cafe- and restaurant-goers Friday night, the bloodiest attack in a day of violence that killed at least 36 people across the country, authorities said.

Attacks have been on the rise in Iraq since a deadly security crackdown in April on a Sunni protest camp. More than 3,000 people have been killed in violence during the past few months, raising fears Iraq could see a new round of widespread sectarian bloodshed similar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

The suicide bomber struck a park in the Qahira neighborhood of Baghdad late Friday night. The bomber detonated his explosives in a crowd of people, killing at least 26 people and wounding 55.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon

Twin car bombs kill 29, hurt hundreds at mosque

In scenes reminiscent of Lebanon’s devastating civil war, charred bodies lay in the streets Friday after twin car bombs exploded outside mosques packed with worshippers, killing 29 people and wounding hundreds.

The coordinated attacks in this predominantly Sunni city — the deadliest fallout from Syria’s civil war to hit Lebanon — raised sectarian tensions to dangerous levels amid fears the country was slipping into a prolonged cycle of revenge.

The blasts marked the second such attack in just over a week and shocked residents of Tripoli, which has been the scene of frequent clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad in recent months. But the city, Lebanon’s second-largest, has not seen such bombings in decades.

The blasts were clearly intended to cause maximum civilian casualties, timed to go off at midday Friday outside the Taqwa and Salam mosques, which are known to be filled with worshippers at that time on the Muslim day of prayer.

CAIRO

Morsi supporters change tactics, hold small rallies

Supporters of Egypt’s deposed president, who once overwhelmed cities in the hundreds of thousands, changed tactics Friday by demonstrating in scattered, small rallies that avoided confronting a heavy military deployment waiting for them across the country.

The low turnout signaled the strain on ousted leader Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, as it has trouble drawing large numbers of supporters and faces an increasingly skeptical Egyptian public wary of more bloodshed like that which followed the July 3 military coup that overthrew him. Meanwhile, an intense security crackdown by the military-backed interim government has rounded up much of its leadership.

Morsi supporters dubbed the day the “Friday of Martyrs,” in reference to the several hundred people that died in clashes with Egypt’s military during raids on street camps this month. Last Friday, unprecedented clashes killed more than 170 people.

— From news service reports