Wave of violence in Iraq largely spillover of "terrorist activity" in Syria - Moscow
MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - Moscow has claimed that a wave of violence in Iraq this week is largely a spillover of "terrorist activity" in neighboring Syria.
"We resolutely condemn all the terrorist attacks," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"The growing religious tensions in Iraq, which evolve into direct armed confrontations between radical elements in the Shia and Sunni communities, are particularly alarming. They are largely an effect of the crisis situation in neighboring Syria and the spread of the terrorist activity of militants operating there," it said.
"We are convinced that disagreements between Iraqis must be dealt with in a purely peaceful way, with the interests of all of the country's political, ethnic and religious groups taken into account. This is the only way to prevent the fanning of strife and achieve compromise solutions to problems," the ministry said.
"A series of terrorist attacks that rolled through the country have demonstrated growing tensions between extremist Shia and Sunni groups, including those with connections to Al Qaeda," it said.
On May 15 a prominent Sunni religious leader was assassinated in Baghdad. The same day three car bombs went off in Shia districts in the capital. The next day several explosions rocked the city with armed clashes breaking out thereafter. This violence claimed more than 50 lives, with about 100 people being injured.
"There were terrorist attacks near a Shia mosque in the city of Kirkuk and clashes between Shia and Sunni militants in Anbar province in the west of the country that resulted in deaths and injuries. There was no peace in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq either. On May 17 there were new large-scale acts of sabotage in the cities of Baghdad and Baqubah. As a result, more than 80 people have been killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq over the past several days," the ministry said.