sectarian violence

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Syria's New Rulers Linked to Mass Killings
Syria's New Rulers
Linked to Mass Killings
longform
Jun 30, 2025 10:46 AM CDT

Syria's New Rulers Linked to Mass Killings

Reuters investigation ties leadership to brutal massacre of 1.5K Alawites in March

(Newser) - As Syria's new leaders seek to consolidate power, a Reuters investigation reveals the massacre of nearly 1,500 Alawites in a series of revenge killings—tracing a direct line of command from the attackers to top officials in Damascus, and raising critical questions about accountability in the country'...

Militants Strike Town Just 37 Miles From Baghdad

Meanwhile, Sunnis killed inside the capital

(Newser) - The battle for Iraq is getting uncomfortably close to its capital city. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants briefly took over parts of the city of Baquba, which is just 37 miles from Baghdad, the BBC reports. The Iraqi military and allied Shiite militias eventually drove them off—and...

Iraq Shuts 10 TV Channels for Broadcasting 'Hype'

Al Jazeera, 9 others blamed for surge in violence

(Newser) - Iraq has ordered al-Jazeera and nine other TV stations off the air, accusing them of causing the sectarian conflict that has killed more than 200 people over the last week. The move came after the stations—all but one of which is Sunni-owned—covered a raid by security forces on...

Syria Using Militias for Mass Killings: UN

As more than 2.5M displaced by civil war

(Newser) - The latest travesty the Syrian government has been accused of: using local militias to carry out mass killings. UN human rights investigators say these "Popular Committees" commit killings that sometimes have "sectarian overtones," Reuters reports. (The rebels in Syria are mainly Sunni Muslims, while President Bashar al-Assad...

Pentagon Accused of Organizing Shiite Torture Squads

Witnesses put key US military personnel at torture sites

(Newser) - The Pentagon directly oversaw the creation of a Shiite militia force that set up secret detention sites and tortured opponents during the US occupation of Iraq, as part of American attempts to put down the budding Sunni insurgency, according to a new report by the Guardian that is being called...

Death Toll in Burma Ethnic Strife Hits 112

Clashes between Buddhist and Muslim communities continue

(Newser) - The death toll from recent ethnic violence in Burma's western state of Rakhine has surpassed 100, an official said today, as the government warned that the strife risks harming the country's reputation as it seeks to install democratic rule. Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said 112 people had...

Burma Boosts Security as Sectarian Violence Kills 50

Curfew imposed after 1K houses set on fire

(Newser) - Burmese authorities are sending extra security forces to a volatile region where at least 50 people have been killed and more than 1,000 homes burned in recent days in a fresh outbreak of violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims, CNN reports. They've also lengthened curfews in several towns,...

Iraq Toll Tops 100 as Bombs Hit Baghdad

Second round of bombings kill 51 more in Baghdad

(Newser) - Six more car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad yesterday evening killed at least 51 more people, bringing the day's death toll to 109, as Sunni militants reacted fiercely to the death sentence given to a prominent Sunni vice president, reports NBC News . A series of attacks earlier in...

Security Forces Probed After Iraq Bombs Kill 40

Guards may have been bribed to allow attacks on Shias

(Newser) - At least 40 people were killed in bombings across Iraq yesterday ahead of a major Shia religious pilgrimages. Several of the bombings happened at marketplace and officials suspect security forces were bribed by al-Qaeda-linked Sunni extremists, the AP reports. In the deadliest bombing, a suicide bomber killed at least 30...

Bombs Across Iraq Kill 63 Pilgrims

Attacks target Shiite pilgrims headed to Baghdad site

(Newser) - A series of coordinated car bombs went off in at least five Iraqi cities today, killing 63 people in one of the deadliest attacks since US forces left the country. The blasts appeared to be the third attack this week targeting Shiite pilgrims en route to the Baghdad neighborhood of...

Iraq Hit by First Major Attacks in Month

At least 30 dead as bombs strike six cities

(Newser) - 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

VP urges Maliki to strengthen coalition with Kurds, Sunnis

(Newser) - 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

Death toll hits 60 in twin Afghanistan bombings

(Newser) - 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...

58 Killed in Rare Attacks on Afghan Shiites

They mark first major sectarian assaults in a decade

(Newser) - 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

Victims were members of anti-Qaeda Awakening Councils

(Newser) - 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

Hundreds flee villages

(Newser) - 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
 Baghdad 
 Car Bombs 
 Kill at Least 136 
UPDATED
Oct 25, 2009 8:16 AM CDT

Baghdad Car Bombs Kill at Least 136

Twin explosions detonate near key ministries during rush hour

(Newser) - 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

(Newser) - 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....

Dozens Killed in New Wave of Iraq Bombings

(Newser) - 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...

Pakistan Muslims Torch Christian Houses; 6 Dead

Crowd avenges alleged Koran desecration

(Newser) - Six people are dead after Muslim protesters torched houses in a Christian neighborhood of Pakistan’s Gojra City yesterday, CNN reports. The demonstrators, who were protesting an alleged desecration of the Koran at a Christian wedding last weekend, set fire to between 40 and 50 houses. A crowd burned 15...

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