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Despite the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in December, violence has continued in that country, threatening the peace and stability of the fledgling nation.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (Catholic Online) - Some of the armed chaos evaporated as US forces departed, but in its place came fresh violence, this time between religious and ethnic groups. Sunnis and Shias, Arabs and Kurds, have all had turns fighting one another over control of territory in the troubled country.

Soon, Iraq will have witnessed a full decade of war and civil strife.

The current government is Shia led, and the campaign to arrest the Vice-President, the country's highest ranking Sunni official on terrorism-related charges has many Sunnis at odds with the mainstream government.

Many fear the country could be plunged into civil war as violence escalates.

And that violence has become a part of daily life. Several hundred Iraqis are dying each month in terror attacks across the nation. During the US occupation, the number of people killed during the months of 2011 was between 223 and 340. Since the pullout, those numbers have actually risen to 451 for January of 2012.

So far, 74 civilians have been killed in the first week of March alone, putting the country on track to keep up the bloody pace of killings.

Unfortunately, with the rest of the world distracted by violence in Syria and Iran's nuclear machinations, there appears to be little attention to this dangerous problem and less hope of resolution anytime soon.

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Violence in Iraq increases following US withdrawal

Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)