More deaths as apparent sectarian violence in Iraq continues

» Deciphering the discord: The state of affairs in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces (not to suggest Iraq was an entirely safe place when those forces were there, obviously) has somewhat undeniably deteriorated, plagued by mass attacks of a sectarian nature. Today was one such grisly example — as the political struggle for representation between Shiite and Sunni has intensified, it has been shadowed by an increasing frequency of attacks, apparently by sectarian militants (al-Qaeda in Iraq among them).

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The roots of Egypt’s sectarian violence: When Hosni Mubarak was in power, his influence repressed the salafis, a hard-line but influential Islamic sect in the country, ensuring they would not hold strong influence over the country’s militant Sunni Muslims. But with Mubarak out of power, they’re taking advantage of the opporutunity, most recently during the sectarian violence that engulfed two churches near Cairo. “There is no security in Egypt,” said Rober, a member of one of the churches that was destroyed in the conflict. “This is only the beginning. I’m afraid for my sister, for my mother, from the salafis.” Yasmine El Rashidi, a Cairo-based columnist for the New York Review of Books, recently described the scene as a counterrevolution, which might be a little strong, but nonetheless underlines the severity of what’s happening right now. Keep an eye on this. It could be bad. source

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A round of sectarian violence: After a set of rumors suggested a woman was being held against her will in a Coptic Christian church in a suburb of Cairo, Muslims reacted by causing violence around the church in question — and setting fire to a nearby church. Around ten people were killed, with another 186 injured; the Egyptian government plans to try 190 people detained for the violence, which a couple of people in this video suggest was an attempt by the old regime to flare up tensions between Muslims and the Coptic Christian minority. source

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9+ number of people killed in fighting between Muslims and Coptic Christians near Cairo
90+ more were injured in clashes stemming from the burning of a church last week source

» A conflict on the back-burner: The tensions between the minority Copts (who make up 9 percent of Egypt’s population) and Muslims (who make up 90 percent) have already been pretty high this year after an extremely deadly suicide bombing in January. The mess with Mubarak took the attention away for the while, but now it’s back. The Christian Science Monitor has a pretty good explanation of what’s happening right now.

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14 car bombs exploded in Baghdad at various points Tuesday night
50+ people were killed in the blasts, largely in Shiite neighborhoods
300+ people were injured just days after another hugely violent incident source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jan 2012 14:36