Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Iraq bomb attacks

Iraq's Al Qaeda front Monday claimed responsibility for a series of car bomb attacks in predominantly Shi'ite districts of Baghdad last week that killed and wounded dozens of people.

"The operations hit targets that were carefully selected deep in the rejectionists' (Shi'ite) strongholds in Baghdad," said the statement signed by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The group said the attacks came at a time when the Iraqi security forces were carrying out a major offensive in the Sunni areas around Baghdad.

It also said that its attacks could now reach the outskirts of the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the government offices and some foreign embassies.

On Sep 3, at least a dozen car bombs struck the Shi'ite neighborhoods in Baghdad killing 47 people and wounding 163 others.