Al-Qaida claims jail breakouts in Iraq
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2013, Wednesday
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AL-QAIDA'S branch in Iraq claimed responsibility yesterday for audacious raids on two high-security prisons on the outskirts of Baghdad that killed dozens and set free hundreds of inmates - including some of its followers.
The statement, issued in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq, was posted on a jihadist forum. It said months of planning went into the highly coordinated assaults on the prisons in Abu Ghraib and Taji that began late Sunday.
The attacks provoked criticism from opposition lawmakers of the government's efforts to keep the country safe.
The spike in bloodshed is intensifying fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.
In its statement, al-Qaida in Iraq dubbed the prison operation "Conquering the Tyrants," and described it as "a bold raid blessed by God" that followed a series of earlier attacks that "shook the pillars of the Safavid project" - a reference to what some Sunni Muslims see as undue Iranian influence over Iraq and its Shiite-led government.
It said the operation involved 12 car bombs, barrages of rockets and missiles, suicide bombers and help from prisoners who had managed to obtain weapons on the inside.
Iraqi officials have said at least 25 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in the attacks, along with at least 21 prisoners and 10 militants.
Al-Qaida's said its men killed more than 120 government forces, and that on al-Qaida's side only the suicide bombers died in the clashes.
The group said that the attack freed hundreds of detainees, including more than 500 mujahideen, or holy warriors.
The statement, issued in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq, was posted on a jihadist forum. It said months of planning went into the highly coordinated assaults on the prisons in Abu Ghraib and Taji that began late Sunday.
The attacks provoked criticism from opposition lawmakers of the government's efforts to keep the country safe.
The spike in bloodshed is intensifying fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.
In its statement, al-Qaida in Iraq dubbed the prison operation "Conquering the Tyrants," and described it as "a bold raid blessed by God" that followed a series of earlier attacks that "shook the pillars of the Safavid project" - a reference to what some Sunni Muslims see as undue Iranian influence over Iraq and its Shiite-led government.
It said the operation involved 12 car bombs, barrages of rockets and missiles, suicide bombers and help from prisoners who had managed to obtain weapons on the inside.
Iraqi officials have said at least 25 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in the attacks, along with at least 21 prisoners and 10 militants.
Al-Qaida's said its men killed more than 120 government forces, and that on al-Qaida's side only the suicide bombers died in the clashes.
The group said that the attack freed hundreds of detainees, including more than 500 mujahideen, or holy warriors.
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