U.S. says al Qaeda will "lash out" in Iraq

By Dean Yates and Alister Bull

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military expects al Qaeda in Iraq to strike back with "spectacular attacks" after major U.S.-led offensives that have disrupted its activities, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.

Brigadier-General Kevin Bergner said 26 leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq had been killed or captured in operations in May and June across the country.

"Over the past two months our collective efforts against the al Qaeda leadership have begun to disrupt their networks and safe havens," Bergner told a news conference.

"We fully expect al Qaeda in Iraq operatives to lash out and stage spectacular attacks to reassert themselves."

Underscoring the threat, police searching a truck that had entered from neighbouring Syria found 200 suicide belts and packs of explosives, the Interior Ministry said.

It was unclear who was behind the shipment, but U.S. commanders say al Qaeda is increasingly utilising suicide vests because many vulnerable targets such as outdoor markets have been walled off to stop suicide car bombs getting in.

U.S. officials say Syria does not do enough to halt the flow of fighters and weapons into Iraq, a charge Damascus denies.

Bergner's comments followed a weekend of bloodshed in Iraq in which nearly 250 people were killed, including 150 in a truck bombing in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato. Iraqi officials have blamed the Sunni Islamist militant group for that attack.