Word: sectarianism
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...With a series of bombing attacks against Shi'ites leaving at least 150 people dead in recent days, many Iraqis have wondered whether the Mahdi Army will continue to stand down or renew death squad killings as they did when sectarian violence raged out of control for more than a year beginning in 2006. Zaid and others associated with Sadr say that for now the militia is effectively dormant. "The Mahdi Army is off the streets by order of the Sadr himself," says Zaid, who spoke to TIME in Najaf and pointed to a standing unilateral cease-fire declared...
...past years. Iraqi security forces, with help from U.S. troops, now largely control areas that were once virtually untouchable militia havens such as Sadr City in Baghdad and the port city of Basra in the south of Iraq. The Mahdi Army dispatched gunmen nightly during the height of the sectarian violence. Yet Mohsen believes the odds of such a situation unfolding again are low, at least in Baghdad - given the myriad checkpoints, blast wall cordons and Iraqi security forces on the street, including Sunni volunteer fighters from the ranks of the Awakening movement, a confederation of tribesmen who've been...
...least five bomb attacks in Iraq in the past 48 hours have left some 140 people dead, wounded dozens more and raised fears that the country may be returning to the sectarian violence from which it has only just emerged. On Thursday three bombs in central Baghdad and areas northeast of the capital killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 100. On Friday, a double suicide bombing at the most important Shi'ite shrine in Baghdad killed another 60 and injured 125 more. The bombs went off as people gathered for Friday prayers at the mosque and tomb...
...Bekaa Valley, they might have expected a certain amount of impunity. The valley - which lies just over Lebanon's Mediterranean mountain range and runs along the border with Syria - has long been a center of lawlessness in a country famed for its volatility. The Lebanese government - weakened by sectarian squabbling, rampant corruption, and interference by foreign powers - usually turns a blind eye to much of the drug cultivation and weapons smuggling that goes on there. But this time, the Lebanese army hit back. This week it launched a sweep through the Bekaa that netted some 69 prisoners, and large caches...
Undoubtedly many of the documented instances of torture came when sectarian violence raged at crisis levels for more than a year starting in 2006. At that time Shi'ite militias, chiefly the Mahdi Army, drew much of the blame for widespread torture and executions as Sunni militants developed a reputation for killing with bombs. But torturing has not been an activity just for militiamen and militants in Iraq. The Iraqi government has consistently faced accusations of torture and maltreatment of prisoners through the years - and still does. The most recent human rights report from the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq...