DEADLY

51 Killed in Baghdad Attacks

2013 has seen worst violence in years.

At least 51 people were killed Wednesday in a series of bombings and gun attacks in Baghdad, as many fear Iraq is descending into sectarian chaos. In Sadr City, a mostly Shiite district in Baghdad, a restaurant owner described how a man had parked his car in front of the restaurant, ate breakfast—and the car exploded. “When I went outside, I saw his car completely damaged and he had disappeared,” the restaurant owner said. At a checkpoint south of Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on six members of al-Sahwa, the former Sunni insurgents who fought against al Qaeda. More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July, the deadliest month in the country since 2008.