Al-Qaeda claims deadly Baghdad blasts

Reuters

WATCHMEN: An Iraqi security personnel patrols at the site of a bomb attack in central Baghdad.

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Al-Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the co-ordinated Baghdad bombings that killed 127 people and wounded over 500 this week.

The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted early Thursday on the internet that the strikes in the Iraqi capital targeted the "bastions of evil and dens of apostates".

It also warns the group is "determined to uproot the pillars of this government" in Iraq and says "the list of targets has no end".

The blasts on Tuesday were the third major strike on government sites in Baghdad since August. The same group has claimed responsibility for the two previous massive bombings.

The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed.

- AP