Tag: sectarian war

Iraq
taga

Taga

Iraq's first parliamentary elections since the defeat of ISIS were supposed to herald a return of stability to the country after 15 years of practically incessant war. But turn-out was at a record low, and candidates were openly aligned with foreign powers playing for influence in Iraq. Incumbent Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, backed by the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, appears to be squeaking past more populist tickets seen to be in the sway of Iran. These include the coalition of vice president and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. The ruling Dawa Party split into rival coalitions as Abadi and Maliki fell out. But the surprise so far is the strong showing of Shi'iite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in an unlikely alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party. Sadr played to resentment against the cronyism and corruption endemic to both factions of the Dawa Party. (Map: CIA)

South Asia
ideologychart

Ideology Chart

Pakistan's army high command approved the death penalty for 10 condemned jihadists who were convicted by a military tribunal of attacks that claimed over 60 lives—including the assassination of Amjad Sabri, one of the country's most revered singers of qawwalii, traditional Sufi devotional music. Sabri was on his way to a televised Ramadan performance in Karachi when his car was attacked by gunmen, and his many followers hailed justice in the case. But in the two years since Sabri's death, attacks on Sufis in Pakistan have continued, with suicide blasts and horrific massacres at shrines and mosques. (Photo via PTI)