Iraq's Interior Ministry responded on Saturday to the al-Qaida's No. 2 leader who issued a video saying that hundreds of suicide bombings in Iraq have " broken the back" of the U.S. military.

The ministry said in a statement that a total of 500 out of 800 suicide operations that Zawahri mentioned in his videotape were carried out against Iraqi civilians in mosques, churches, popular markets, schools and government buildings, aiming at sparking sectarian strife among Iraqis.

The statement said that more than 100 suicide operations were carried out against Iraqi security forces, while some 104 suicide operations were foiled by Iraqi security forces.

Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian physician, who was believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, said in his videotape posted on the Internet on Friday that U.S. and British forces had swamped in Iraq and "have only achieved losses, catastrophes and misfortunes. "

"Al-Qaida in (Iraq) alone has carried out 800 suicide operations in three years, and this is what has broken the back of America in Iraq." Zawahri said.

Zawahri's 16-minute videotape came within the same week when the al-Qaida's leader Osama bin Laden issued an audiotape.

On April 25, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, also made an unprecedented appearance in a video, criticizing the new Iraqi government. He also warned U.S. President George W. Bush of more attacks to come.

On Friday, Iraqi security forces said that they killed Hammad al-Takhi, leader of the al-Qaida organization in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad.

Also on Friday, Iraqi security forces announced the capture of Abdul Qadir Makhol, leader of the al-Qaida organization in Salahudin province in northern Iraq on Thursday.

Three days earlier, Iraqi security forces killed two al-Qaida leaders in the province, including the leader (Ameer) of the Jazeera area and his assistant.

Source: Xinhua