Global General

Al-Qaida claims it was behind twin Iraq bombings

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-24 05:30

BAGHDAD - Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings against its former insurgent allies that killed almost 50 people and said in an Internet statement posted Friday that it hoped the attacks would inspire others to "martyrdom."

Al-Qaida's ability to operate in Iraq has been sharply curtailed over the past couple of years because of a dramatic security crackdown, but attacks like the July 18 bombings have shown it remains able to strike back.

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In another setback in their battle with the group, Iraqi officials disclosed Thursday that four suspected al-Qaida members had escaped from a prison that the US had handed over to Iraq a week earlier.

In its Internet statement, al-Qaida said the bombings a week ago were part of a series of attacks against its turncoat allies -- former Sunni insurgents who are now members of pro-government militias known as Awakening Councils.

It described its targets as "leaders of apostasy and the hypocritical Awakening." One of the attacks, it said, targeted the Sunni fighters as they "rushed to get the crumbs for which they have sold their religion."

The fighters were waiting at a Baghdad military checkpoint to collect their government paychecks when the bomber struck, killing 40. Al-Qaida put the number of dead and wounded at 120.

It said the other attack by one of its "lions" was at an Awakening Council headquarters in the western city of Qaim, a former insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border. It claimed that bombing killed or wounded 20.

The official death toll was three dead and six wounded. Iraqi officials said the bomber stormed the building and opened fire. The Sunni fighters returned fire and wounded the attacker, who blew himself up as the men gathered around him.

The statement, which appeared on a website where militant claims are often posted, said the group hoped God would "accept (the bombers) martyrdom ... and make their blood a reason for others to hold on to the path of jihad and martyrdom."

The attacks, while sharply diminished in scale and toll from the height of the insurgency in 2007, remain a real threat.

On Thursday, a rocket attack on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone killed three foreign security contractors -- two Ugandans and a Peruvian -- working for the Herndon, Virginia-based Triple Canopy, which provides security for US government installations in Baghdad. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack.