According to reports, a car bomb that exploded near a gathering of Shiite Muslims south of Baghdad on August 8, 2012 killed more than 11 people. Wednesday’s attack was followed by a string of attacks on August 10, 2012, targeting worshippers, a checkpoint, and a police patrol in different parts of the country. The attacks followed a threat issued by Al Qaeda in Iraq a month ago to kill judges and investigators. 1 Meanwhile, al Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), has claimed 28 attacks in June and July this year, which it says killed more than 70 people. The group claims the attacks were part ISI’s campaign to recapture territories that it abandoned between 2006 and 2008. 2

• 1. “Iraq: Insurgents Attack Worshipers at Mosque“, The New York Times, August 10, 2012, at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/world/middleeast/iraq-insurgents-attac...
• 2. “Qaeda front group claims dozens of Iraq attacks”, The Daily Star, August 13, 2012, at http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Aug-13/184505-qaeda-front-...