Sectarian Violence Erupts Again Across Iraq
Renewed sectarian violence this week is setting back Iraqi efforts toward national reconciliation.
The truce between the Shiite-led Iraqi government and its Sunni opposition was broken after a wave of violent attacks in Iraq stepped up the political tension to unprecedented levels, especially when Abdul Malak al-Saadi, a prominent Sunni cleric, accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of blocking the dialogue initiative.
The bombs that went off in Sunni and Shiite areas last week resulted in more than 450 dead and wounded.
On May 16, explosions were heard in the majority-Shiite neighborhoods of Sadr City, Al-Husayniyyah, Al-Mualif, Al-Kazimiyah and Al-Muhstal in Baghdad.
On May 17, similar explosions rocked Sunni-dominated al-Ghazaliya, al-Amiriyah and Al-Madin in addition to Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, and Fallujah to the west.
