Insurgents in Iraq appear to have stepped up their campaign of violence against a leading Shiite political party, said members of the group which is renowned for its strong ties to Iran. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) has recently been hit in a series of deliberate attacks and, according to reports posted on insurgent web sites. "We are being targeted in Baghdad more than other groups," Ali Al Bayati, SCIRI spokesman in London told Gulf News in a telephone interview. "SCIRI families returning from exile they have been working hard for democracy and as a result are being attacked by former Baathists and terrorists. They know we are strong and so they try to weaken us and keep Iraq in chaos."Al Bayati would not confirm how many party members had been killed or attacked. But he said the Shiite group a leading member the election winning United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) feared it now topped the insurgents' political hit-list. However, according to reports posted on insurgents' web sites, at least 19 SCIRI members have been killed and dozens more wounded in the past week, some in a mortar strike on the party's Baghdad headquarters. Three of the deaths were confirmed by mainstream media after the bodies of a council official and two of his relatives were found by police. They had been executed and dumped in an abandoned car near Baquba, a rebel stronghold.