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Zarqawi group claims attacks
25/06/2004 11:37 - (SA)
Dubai - The al-Qaeda-linked militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi posted a statement on an Islamist website on Thursday, claiming responsibility for a wave of attacks in Iraq that killed at least 92 people.
"With the help of God, your brothers in the Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War) carried out a large-scale offensive in several provinces of the country," said the statement signed by the "military wing of 'Tawid wal Jihad' in Iraq".
The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.
Zarqawi, who has a $10m bounty on his head, is wanted by Washington in connection with a string of attacks in war-drenched Iraq including the execution of foreign hostages.
Posted at www.alezah.com, the statement said the attacks "targeted the infidel police forces and the (occupation) collaborators, the spies, the Iraqi army and... the Americans".
It listed attacks carried out by the "kamikaze brigade" as "five operations in Mosul against five police stations, two in Baquba and one in Ramadi".
"Panicked, the occupation forces and apostates sealed off the capital Baghdad with road blocks. A valiant lion cub then attacked one of the main roadblocks, pushing back these forces," said the statement.
The US said at least 92 people were killed in the violence, which started in Baquba at dawn and spread like wildfire across the Sunni Muslim belt north and west of the capital.
Eight people died in the western city of Ramadi; between 20 to 30 insurgents were killed in Baquba, north of Baghdad; and 62 people were killed in the main northern city of Mosul, said a military official on condition of anonymity.
Another two or three people were killed in Baghdad when a man detonated a suitcase of explosives, the official said.
In Baquba, fighters pledged allegiance to Tawhid wa al-Jihad in a pamphlet passed out to local Iraqis, threatening them with death if they helped US forces.
- AFP
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