Insurgent "Islamic state of Iraq" is reported to have claimed responsibility Sunday for last month-end's two suicide-bombings that killed 24 persons and severely injured the Anbar provincial governor, reports say, but its authenticity is yet to be established.
In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the group, which purports to speak for a slew of insurgent factions linked to Al-Qaida in Iraq, described the December 30 blasts "a divine blow" at "the criminal security apparatus."
It claimed responsibility for the December 8 two bombings in Baghdad which killed 127 persons.
In last Wednesday's attacks, a car driven by a suicide-bomber blew up near a checkpoint on the main road near the provincial administration building in Ramadi, about 70 miles (115 km) west of capital Baghdad.
When Governor Qassim al-Fahdawi, the deputy police chief and other officials went to inspect the damage, a second suicide- bomber wearing a vest of explosives under a military uniform, walked toward al-Fahdawi and set his device off. The deputy police chief was killed, while the governor was severely injured.
Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, once an Al-Qaida stronghold, before its tribal leaders turned against it. The province became relatively secure after the U.S. began paying former fighters, mainly Sunni Arabs, to participate in the pro-government 'Sons of Iraq' movement, also known as the Awakening Councils.
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