Iraq Sunni group claims Baghdad attack on Shi'ites

DUBAI, Sep 23 (Reuters) An Iraqi Sunni Muslim militant group claimed responsibility for a bomb attack which killed 26 people in a Shi'ite stronghold in east Baghdad today and said it was in retaliation for killings of unarmed Sunnis.

''This operation comes in reaction to the crimes of the (Shi'ite militia) Mehdi Army against our Sunni kin in Baghdad,'' Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba, Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions, said in a statement posted on the Internet.

The blast also wounded 29 people who had gathered around a fuel tanker distributing fuel for stoves in Baghdad's Sadr City, slum stronghold of the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, police sources said.

''We tell the hateful rejectionists (Shi'ites) that our swords can reach the depth of your areas, so stop killing unarmed Sunnis and stop siding with the crusaders,'' said the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.

The explosion came as Iraq's Sunnis observed the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which US commanders have warned may see a rise in sectarian bloodshed.

Earlier in September, the same group claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Shi'ites in Baghdad which killed 50 people.

REUTERS SHB BD1534