More than 50 people were killed Thursday in a series of attacks in Baghdad, the New York Times reports:
The multiple attacks on Shiites around Iraq appeared aimed at reigniting sectarian violence amid a political crisis that has brought the government to a halt. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks but they appeared similar to ones conducted by Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni insurgent group which has tried to plunge the country back to the brink of civil war by pitting Shiites and Sunnis against each other.
