At least 28 people were killed and many more wounded in four possibly co-ordinated bomb attacks across Baghdad this evening, justifying fears of a spike in violence as the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close.

A car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded outside one of the biggest restaurants in the capital just as people were ending a dawn-to-dusk fast, observed every day by many Muslims during Ramadan. As a result, the al-Azayan restaurant was packed with hungry diners.

The double-blasts left 15 people dead and 55 wounded, police said.

A short while earlier in the southwestern Shurta neighbourhood, a bomb in a minibus exploded near a market, killing at least 12 people and wounding 35.

At around the same time, another person died when a bomb attached to a car blew up in the nearby district of Hay al-Amil.

A police officer in Karrada speculated that the attacks were linked. “They targeted two crowded places at the same time so probably it was by the same people,” Lieutenant Abbas said, referring to the attacks in Karrada and Shurta.

US military officials say violence in Iraq is at four-year lows but that some militant groups have stepped up attacks for Ramadan, a period when Muslims observe a daytime fast.

Ramadan ends this week, followed by a six-day holiday period starting on Tuesday so the shops are full during the day and into the evening as families stock up on food and gifts.

Earlier today, a roadside bomb in western Baghdad's Mansour district killed one person and wounded three.

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