Iraqi group says it carried out Najaf bombing

DUBAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) An Iraqi insurgent group said it was behind a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people today near a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in southern Iraq, according to an Internet posting.

''God enabled your brothers of the Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions) to carry out an operation which took the lives of at least 30 rejectionists (Shi'ites), including police,'' said a group statement, whose authenticity could not be verified. It was posted on a main Islamic Web site.

''We say to the hateful rejectionists that our swords can reach into the depths of your areas,'' it added.

The Sunni group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, including a May 2005 suicide car bombing that killed 31 people at a vegetable market in a town south of Baghdad.

Hospital sources said today's bomber blew himself up at a police commando checkpoint on the way to the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most revered sites for Shi'ites and an annual destination for thousands of pilgrims.

The attack came as the United States boosts its troop levels in Baghdad, some 160 km to the north, in another bid to ease the inter-communal bloodshed tearing the capital apart.

It was the bloodiest attack since July 18, when 59 people were killed by a suicide bomb in Kufa, near Najaf. That attack was claimed by al Qaeda, which has targeted Shi'ites in a bid to inflame sectarian passions and trigger full-scale civil war.

REUTERS SRS ND1840