Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Al Qaeda: We caused Iraq carnage

Feed: CNN.com - WORLD
Posted on: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 1:04 PM
Author: CNN.com - WORLD
Subject: Al Qaeda: We caused Iraq carnage

Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility Tuesday for a string of attacks that killed almost 70 people and wounded more than 200.

Просмотреть статью...

EDITION: INTERNATIONAL
U.S.
MÉXICO
ARABIC

Set edition preference

Share this on:

Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon LinkedIn Viadeo

Al Qaeda in Iraq claims responsibility for recent attacks

From the CNN Wire Staff

December 27, 2011 -- Updated 1104 GMT (1904 HKT)

Suicide bomber strikes Iraqi compound

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The claims are made on an al Qaeda website
There are fears of a return of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq
A string of explosions killed dozens of people last week
Violence and political turmoil erupted just days after U.S. troops withdrew

Baghdad (CNN) -- Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility Tuesday for a string of attacks that killed almost 70 people and wounded more than 200.

The seemingly coordinated explosions Thursday struck during the height of morning rush hour, hitting a number of Baghdad's primarily mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods. Nine car bombs, six roadside bombs and a mortar round all went off in a two-hour period, targeting residential, commercial and government districts in the Iraqi capital, police said.

"The series of special invasions launched, under the guidance of the Ministry of War in the Islamic State of Iraq, to support the weak Sunnis in the prisons of the apostates and to retaliate for the captives who were executed," the group said on an al Qaeda website.

Iraq's leadership is dominated by Shiite Muslims, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The country's Sunni minority held power under former leader Saddam Hussein.

Bloodshed in Baghdad

Iraq's future hinges on political crisis

Iraq after the withdrawal

A recent political crisis has raised fears of a return of the sectarian bloodshed in Iraq that ripped the country apart at the height of the war a few years back.

On December 19, al-Maliki, a Shiite, ordered the arrest of the Sunni vice president, a move that escalated sectarian tensions and threatened to collapse Iraq's fragile power-sharing government.

The political turmoil as well as the recent spate of violence erupted just days after the final U.S. troops withdrew.

Violence in Iraq has declined in recent years but last week's attacks were among the worst since August when a series of coordinated bombings killed at least 75 people in 17 Iraqi cities.