SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association)— June was one of the bloodiest months in Iraq with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded mainly in bomb attacks, according to a tally by Reuters.
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said a statement posted on Wahhabi websites that it was behind more than 73 attacks that mainly targeted Shi'ite pilgrims and security officials.
The group had previously said it was responsible for the June 13 attacks in which more than 70 people were killed in bombings targeting Shi'ite pilgrims across the country.
The ISI often hits Shi'ite targets to try to stir up the type of sectarian violence that drove Iraq to the edge of civil war and killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-7.
Although weakened by a long war with U.S. and Iraqi security forces, the group remains capable of coordinating lethal attacks and has typically carried out a major bombing about once a month this year.
Overall violence has dropped in Iraq since the peak of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-7 but bombings and killings still occur daily and has raised fears of a return to widespread sectarian fighting.—www.shafaqna.com/english
