At least 155 killed in two Baghdad suicide bombings Al Qaeda linked group claims responsibility

An Iraqi man is lifted off the ground as he grieves following the bomb blast outside offices of the governor of Baghdad







Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (right) visits the site of the bomb attacks yesterday afternoon






Devastation: Burnt bodies spill out of a blown-up overturned car






Grim: Rescuers carry a burnt body from the scene




An amateur video captures the moment one of the car bombs explodes









Carnage: A pair of powerful explosions went off near the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad and the offices of a Kurdish political party during yesterday's morning rush hour as people headed to work




Aftermath: An injured man speaks on his mobile phone as he sits outside the Karama hospital following yesterday's explosions



Iraqis inspect the badly damaged building of the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.


Fire fighters load into an ambulance the body of a man killed by a massive bomb attack at the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.


Mourners attend the funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide bombing grieve at his funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. On Sunday, at least 147 people were killed and 721 were wounded in two suicide bombings in the country's deadliest attack in more than two years.


Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack at the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.


Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a massive bomb attack at the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.


An Iraqi Army soldier stands guard as Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack at the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.




Al-Qaida's umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 155 people this week.

The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, says in a statement posted on the Internet that its "martyrs ... targeted the dens of infidelity."

The authenticity of the statement, posted late Monday on a Web site commonly used for militant messaging, could not be independently confirmed.

The same group also claimed responsibility for August bombings of two government ministries in Baghdad, when more than 100 people were killed.

Three major government buildings were destroyed or severely damaged in Sunday's blasts. The dead included two dozen children trapped in a bus leaving a day care center.

An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January.

The statement dated October 26 was posted by the Islamic State in Iraq group on a website often used by militants to announce responsibility for such attacks.

"Suicide bombers targeted the dens of infidelity and pillars of the rejectionist Shi'ite state in the land of the caliphate," the statement said.

It employed language often used by Sunni Arab militants to describe the Shi'ite Muslim majority that has dominated the Iraqi government since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

"Among the chosen targets were the ministry of oppression known as the ministry of justice and the Baghdad provincial assembly ... The enemies only understand the language of force," said the statement.

The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.

The same group has said it was behind attacks near government ministries in Baghdad that killed 95 people in August.

Officials have said two mini-buses were used in Sunday's attacks, circumventing a ban on truck traffic in heavily policed central Baghdad.

Both were driven by suicide bombers from a nearby site, according to aerial images from U.S.-operated airships that hover over the city.

The January ballot is expected to focus on security gains under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after years of war and sticky questions about the distribution of power and oil wealth.

Insurgents are widely expected to try and upset an electoral process that is meant to prepare the way for an ordered withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq.

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