At least 63 people were killed in Baghdad Thursday when a wave of 14 bombs exploded across the city. Over 185 people were injured. The attacks come only days after U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq and during a deepening political crisis in the government. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, threatened to abandon a U.S.-backed power-sharing agreement. The crisis was prompted by accusations that Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, had been running death squads. Hashimi has since fled to the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Maliki has warned the Kurds that there would be “problems” if they did not hand Hashimi over.
Michael Wahid Hanna is a fellow at The Century Foundation. He discusses the mounting challenges to Iraq’s stability.