Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Iraq attack that killed 56

Baghdad: An al-Qaeda affiliated group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for bloody attacks that killed dozens of people across the country a day earlier. In a statement posted on Wednesday on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq, al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, said the Tuesday attacks were in revenge for the executions and “massacres” of convicted Sunni inmates held in Iraqi prisons [caption id=“attachment_668481” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image for representation only. AP[/caption] The al-Qaida statement warned the Shiite-led government to stop executing Sunni prisoners or “expect more bad events… and seas of blood.” Insurgents set off a string of car bombs and other explosions in different parts of the country ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 2003 US-led invasion, killing 65. Associated Press