Web site claims Abu Ghraib attack for Al Quaida

April 3, 2005

A group from Al Qaeda claimed responsibility today for the Saturday evening prison attack at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The US military revised casualty reports upward to 44 American soldiers and 12 Iraqi prisoners injured, some seriously.

The attack came at the end of a day that witnessed a series of violent attacks elsewhere throughout the country. Six other people were killed in Iraq yesterday, ending recent hopes that violence may be subsiding.

A Web statement posted by Islamists on Sunday said, "Your brothers in the al Qaeda Organization (for Holy War) in Iraq launched a well-planned attack on Abu Ghraib prison, where Muslim women and men are held." The statement also says, "This battle is part of a series of raids."

The GNN reports U.S. Army 1st Lt. Adam Rondeau saying, “This was obviously a very well-organized attack and a very big attack.”

The Abu Ghraib prison, located 18 miles (30 km) west of Baghdad, is still supervised by American forces following the notorious prisoner abuse scandal last year. Approximately 3,300 Iraqi detainees are held there.