The Iraqi wing of al Qaeda said it had launched Monday's attack on the interior ministry in Baghdad, according to an Internet statement. "Your brothers set off from five directions and used a variety of weapons to launch a blessed raid on the interior ministry building, killing everyone inside," the al Qaeda Organization in Iraq said in a statement.
The statement was posted on an Islamist Web site often used by the group. It could not be authenticated. Up to 30 gunmen in 10 cars fired on the ministry building at dawn, killing two policemen and wounding five in what appeared to be a carefully coordinated attack on a sensitive target, Iraqi officials said. The attack came at the start of campaigning for an October referendum on a new constitution. |