MANAMA: There has been a sudden surge in suicide attacks unseen in other conflict zones that have powered the on-going guerilla offensive in Iraq that claimed 750 lives in May.

The 90 suicide attacks last month accounted for most of the casualties.

The trend has continued with a suicide car bomber killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding 10 more at a location 80 km north of Baghdad, U.S. military on Friday said.

A day earlier, guerillas unleashed three suicide bombings, within an hour after gunmen travelling in cars sprayed gunfire in a crowded market in Baghdad. More than 38 persons were killed in the barrage of strikes.

Analysts point out that the Iraqi resistance has extensively used suicide bombings as a weapon of war, in far greater degree when compared to other areas of conflict such as Chechnya and Palestine. On Sunday, there were five suicide bombings within a space of six-hours in Baghdad.

Indications that there will be more suicide bombings has come from a recent statement purportedly issued by the Al Qaeda group in Iraq.

The statement posted on a website used by Islamists has announced the formation of Al-Bara bin Malek brigade, which comprises of suicide bombers.

The statement was issued in the name of Abu Doujana al-Ansari, who claimed he was the head of the new group. Observers, however caution that a larger number of local Iraqis are undertaking suicide attacks when compared to "international jehadis" functioning under the Al Qaeda umbrella. Sectarian tensions, involving the Shias, Sunnis and Kurds have sharpened as the new wave of violence has targeted leaders of the three communities at regular intervals.

Gunmen assassinated Ali Abdul-Hussein, the Imam of a Shia mosque in Basra, on Thursday night as part of sectarian killings where dozens of Shia and Sunni clerics have been victims.

Ethnic tensions in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, which has a mixed population of Sunnis, Kurds and Turkomans, have also risen sharply following the assassination of the Sunni tribal leader Nayif al-Jubouri. Leading figures of all the three communities were also killed last month.

The Badr brigades-the armed wing the of Shia group, Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), several armed Sunni groups and the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have been accused of exacerbating Iraq's ethnic strife

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