Al-Qaida claims responsibility for Iraq killings

An al-Qaida affiliate group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for Monday's wave of attacks that killed 115 people across the country and wounded hundreds others.

In a statement posted Wednesday on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq said the "blessed foray" marked the beginning of a campaign it calls "Breaking the Walls," announced last week by the local insurgency's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Al-Baghdadi said that his network's aim was to rebuild tribal alliances in order to make a comeback in Sunni areas from which it had retreated in 2007-2008.

The assaults, which mainly targeted security forces, made Monday the deadliest day in Iraq since May 10, 2010, when a string of nationwide attacks killed at least 119 people.

The Associated Press