Qaida Claims Wave of Attacks in Iraq

An a-Qaida front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks that cost 33 lives, in a website statement posted on Friday.

"The targets were government, security and army centers" and Shiites as well as Sunni "traitors," it said on jihadist website Honein.

The bombings and shootings in 10 cities and towns across Iraq last Sunday that also left more than 100 wounded rounded off the deadliest month in Iraq for more than two years, with a total of 365 people killed in September.

While insurgents opposed to the Baghdad government are regarded as weaker than in past years, they are still capable of launching periodic mass-casualty attacks across the country.