sectarian violence news stories on Newser

Iraq Hit by First Major Attacks in Month

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:02:10 CDT

Bombings struck several areas in Baghdad and five other cities today, killing at least 30 people in the first major attacks in Iraq in nearly a month. Nearly 100 people were wounded in the rapid-fire explosions that unfolded over an hour and 15 minutes. Half of the bombs struck at...

Biden Tells Iraqis to Mend Fences —Like, Now

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:32:22 CST

Joe Biden called Iraqi officials today, urging them to calm rising sectarian tensions after a bombing killed at least 63 people there earlier this week, the AP reports. Biden and other US officials have been phoning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as Sunni and Kurdish leaders all week, asking...

Karzai: Pakistan Behind Kabul Attack

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:41:45 CST

Hamid Karzai vowed today to confront the government in Islamabad over a devastating suicide bombing against a Shiite shrine in Kabul that he said originated on Pakistani soil. At least 56 people were killed in yesterday's bombing at the shrine, and four more when a second bomb hit a Shiite...

58 Killed in Rare Attacks on Afghan Shiites

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:28:26 CST

A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshippers at a mosque in Kabul today, killing at least 54 people and wounding more than 160 in one of two deadly attacks on a Shiite holy day—the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago....

Uniformed Men Execute 24 Sunnis in Baghdad

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:31:21 CDT

Gunmen wearing Iraqi military uniforms raided homes in a Sunni village south of Baghdad, killing at least 24 people, including five women, in execution-style attacks. Many of the dead were members of local Sahwa, or Awakening Councils—one of several names for the Sunni fighters who changed the course of...

200 Dead in New Nigeria Religious Violence

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:25:49 CST

Machete-wielding rioters hacked at least 200 people to death yesterday in the latest wave of religious violence in Nigeria. Nearly all of the victims were Christians in the attacks on 3 villages, where rioters were out for revenge for earlier killings of Muslims in Jos. The dead lined the streets...

Baghdad Car Bombs Kill at Least 136

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:16:59 CDT

Two powerful car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad today, killing at least 136 people and wounding nearly 600 in an apparent attempt to target the fragile city's government offices, Iraqi authorities said. The blasts went off less than a minute apart near two prominent government institutions—the Ministry of Justice...

Why Iraq Bombs Aren't Sparking Civil War

Harry Kimball — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:04:19 CDT

Iraq was rocked by two deadly, possibly destabilizing bombings this weekend, but the proof is in the reprisals, Larry Kaplow writes in Newsweek —and there were none. “Iraq today is a different place than it was when ethnic conflict threatened to engulf the country in 2006,” Kaplow continues. “The powder...

Dozens Killed in New Wave of Iraq Bombings

Rob Quinn — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:13:15 CDT

A series of bomb attacks in Baghdad and Mosul killed at least 41 people today and raised fears of a new upsurge in sectarian violence, the BBC reports. In Mosul, where an attack on a Shia mosque killed 40 people Friday, a double truck bomb killed 25 people in a...