BAGHDAD -- An al-Qaeda affiliated group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for wave of attacks that killed dozens of people in the past two days during a major Muslim holiday.

In a statement posted Monday on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq, al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch, said the attacks were in response to what the group alleged were the arrests of Sunni women to pressure their wanted relatives to turn themselves to Iraqi security forces.

The al-Qaeda statement warned the Shite-led government and its "apostate beasts" to stop persecuting Sunni tribes and women, otherwise "they will not dream of security in the day or night and in Eid (holiday) or not."

The Eid al-Adha attacks killed about 50 people despite the government's efforts to secure the four-day holiday.

Associated Press