Al-Qaida linked group claims responsibility for Baghdad bombings

A militant group linked to al-Qaida network in Iraq claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings that killed and wounded scores of Iraqis on Sunday, the group said in a statement posted on the Internet Tuesday.

The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq said in its statement that its suicide bombers "targeted dens of infidelity and pillars of the rejectionist Shiite state in the land of the caliphate (Baghdad)."

"Among the selected targets that were hit this time was the ministry of injustice and oppression, the so-called Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad Provincial Council," the group said.

The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.

The almost simultaneous suicide truck bombings in central Baghdad on Sunday killed up to 155 people and wounded more than 500 others.

The same group claimed the responsibility for the deadly truck bombings near government ministries in Baghdad that killed and wounded some 1,300 people on Aug. 19.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to punish those who are behind the bombings and reiterated his accusation to the "remnants of the dismantled regime and al-Qaida militants," referring to Saddam Hussein's Baath party members and al-Qaida in Iraq organization.

Source: Xinhua