BAGHDAD: Al Qaeda's front group in Iraq has claimed a brazen coordinated attack involving a series of bombings and the storming of a ministry complex in central Baghdad, a monitoring service said on Sunday.

The Islamic State of Iraq claimed to have killed up to 60 people, according to the US-based SITE Monitoring Service.

Security and medical officials told AFP that 18 people died in the March 14 attack near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which is home to several government buildings as well as the American and British embassies.

The attack was the latest to raise questions about the capabilities of Iraq's security forces, just days before the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of the country and weeks ahead of its first elections in three years.