Al-Qaida in Iraq claims deadly attacks

A protester places a paper pigeon to mourn Iraqis who were killed in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq during a rally on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the war near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on March 19, 2013.

An al-Qaida 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 Wednesday on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq, al-Qaida’s Iraqi branch, said the Tuesday attacks were in revenge for the executions and “massacres” of convicted Sunni inmates held in Iraqi prisons

The al-Qaida statement warned the Shiite-led government to stop executing Sunni prisoners or “expect more bad events ... and sea 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 U.S.-led invasion, killing 65.