Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, which struck a Shiite enclave in a mainly Sunni neighborhood, but it bore the hallmarks of the terror network's chapter in Iraq. Al-Qaida operatives have vowed revenge for bin Laden's death on Monday.

Iraqi security officials said Monday that they were increasing security amid fears that insurgents would try to strike immediately following bin Laden's death as a way to show they are still a potent force.

Most of the dead and wounded were young people watching a football match, said police and hospital officials. A vendor selling food near the cafe also was among the 16 killed. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said 37 people also were wounded.

The attack occurred in a Shiite enclave in the former insurgent stronghold of Dora, an area in southwestern Baghdad that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq conflict.

AP