[REUTERS] A series of bombs battered Shi'ite and Sunni Musselmen neighborhoods across Storied Baghdad...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago.
The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq's majority Shi'ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.
The latest surge in violence began in April when Iraqi forces raided a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija, angering Sunni leaders and triggering festivities that spread across the country.
Civil war in Syria between Sunni rebels and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, whose Alawite sect derives from Shi'ite Islam, has aggravated the strife in Iraq. Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis have been crossing the border to fight on opposing sides in Syria.
No group grabbed credit for Thursday's attacks, but Sunni Islamist snuffies and al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have increased their operations since the beginning of the year as part of a campaign to exacerbate inter-communal tensions.