Al-Qaeda takes credit for deadly Iraq attacks

BAGHDAD / ANKARA

The latest attacks across Iraq which killed dozens has been claimed by the al-Qaeda branch. Meanwhile, Turkey condemns ‘heinious’ attacks and offers aid.

Iraq’s al-Qaeda branch has claimed responsibility for the latest wave of bombings and other attacks that killed dozens and wounded 225 in Baghdad and across the country in a single day.

Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq said in an Internet message late Feb. 23 that it targeted security forces and government officials in “revenge for the elimination and torture campaigns that Sunni men and women face in the prisons of Baghdad and other cities,” the Associated Press reported. Iraq’s Shiite-led government has executed at least 68 prisoners so far this year, a rate that has alarmed human rights watchdogs.

Aid offer from Turkey
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey was ready to help the wounded, Anatolia news agency reported. In a statement issued Feb. 23, the Foreign Ministry said: “We deplore these heinous terror attacks that targeted the peace and security of Iraqi people and extend our condolences to the families of those killed as well as our sympathy to the wounded […] Turkey, as always has been, is ready to help the wounded people.”