Official: al-Qaida in Iraq strongest since 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) The head of the national counterterrorism center says the al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq is the strongest it's been since a peak in 2006.

Matt Olsen says al-Qaida in Iraq has increased the pace of attacks this year.

Olsen is testifying to a Senate committee on the current terror threat to the U.S.

Olsen did not say that al-Qaida in Iraq poses a direct threat to the U.S. He says the group continues to operate in Syria as well.

In 2006, the group was at its peak in Iraq when it bombed a Shiite mosque and heightened sectarian killings.