Violence spiked as Iraq readied Friday for its first elections since US troops withdrew, with 27 people killed in a late-night bombing at a Baghdad billiards cafe frequented by young men.

Violence spiked as Iraq readied Friday for its first elections since US troops withdrew, with 27 people killed in a late-night bombing at a Baghdad billiards cafe frequented by young men.

The bombing struck at 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday in the west Baghdad suburb of Amriyah, leaving 27 dead and more than 50 others wounded, security and medical officials said.

Among the dead were at least three children and a woman.

The bomb exploded at the Dubai cafe, which lies inside a small shopping mall in a neighborhood filled with families as it contains restaurants and clothes shops.

The cafe itself, however, is mostly frequented by young men playing billiards and video games.

The glass windows of the mall, and of nearby shops and houses, were shattered by the blast, an AFP journalist said, while witnesses reported heavy damage inside the building itself.