Al Qaeda says carried out Iraq attacks

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks across the country targeting mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets this week that killed and wounded hundreds of people.

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks across the country targeting mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets this week that killed and wounded hundreds of people.

The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said in a statement posted on radical Islamist websites on Tuesday that it was behind the recent attacks, which it called its "Destroying the Walls" campaign.

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At least 116 people were killed and around 300 wounded in bomb and gun attacks on Monday, by far the bloodiest day of violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December. A day earlier 20 died in bombings as part of a coordinated surge of violence.

The ISI often hits Shi'ite targets to try to stir up the type of sectarian violence that drove Iraq to the edge of civil war and killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-7.