DUBAI, Sept 12 (AFP) - The militant group of alleged Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi claimed in an internet statement that it launched missiles into Baghdad's Green Zone and attacked Abu Ghraib prison guards on Sunday.
"Dozens of mujahedeen missiles were launched against scattered targets, particularly in Baghdad and other Sunni provinces," said the statement signed by "the military branch of the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War)" group.
"They targetted the American headquarters and the traitor Iraqi government and some embassies of allied countries," said the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.
"Mujahedeen went out to strike with an iron fist the infidel American patrols, the Iraqi police and units," it said, adding: "The lions of Tawhid wa al-Jihad have bombarded the guards of Abu Ghraib prison."
Two drivers tried to ram cars rigged with explosives into the high-security government compound in Baghdad known as the Green Zone and Abu Ghraib prison on Sunday but were killed, Iraqi and US sources said.
"This is just a confirmation that the mujahedeen, with the help of the Almighty, have the initiative and the capability to strike the enemy and hit its strategic targets," the statement said, posted on the website www.ansarnet.ws/vb.
Zarqawi, a fugitive Jordanian Islamist who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head, has already claimed responsibility for a string of attacks in Iraq, including the beheading of foreign hostages.