Sunni extremists claim Iraqi blasts

BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A Sunni extremist group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the twin Baghdad bombings that killed nearly 160 people, an online post said.

A statement posted by the group Islamic State of Iraq called the targeted government sites "dens of infidelities," The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The posting was on a Web site used by extremists to make similar claims and could not be authenticated independently. Besides Sunday's two bombings, the group claimed responsibility for a devastating car blast that killed more than 100 people in August.

Meanwhile, security forces Monday said explosives in a minibus detonated in the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and wounding several others.

Sunday's bombings at the Justice Ministry, the Baghdad Provincial Council and the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works are expected to hobble government agencies for months, the Post said. The attacks apparently were designed to depict the Shiite-led government as weak and aimless ahead of elections scheduled for January, experts on the region and its politics said.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the attacks "are targeting the symbols of Iraqi sovereignty, and they aim to paralyze the government."

Zebari said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet met in emergency session Sunday and agreed to drastically beef up security around key government buildings that could be potential targets.

Several Iraqis who were wounded or lost relatives in Sunday's attacks told the Post they weren't confident in the government's ability to survive.

"There is no security, no hope," said Shauki Abdul Jabar, an injured Justice Ministry worker. "All the police forces and the armed forces are for nothing."