Deaths spike in Iraq

In Iraq, sectarian violence as well as attacks by militants and terrorist groups have resulted in a terrible rise in the deaths of civilians and Iraqi security forces. UN figures put the death toll from Jan. 1 through July at more than 3,700, and the Associated Press reported another 500 killed in August. 

July 2013 was, by far, the most deadly month since 2008, with at least 1,000 killed in suicide bombings of cafés, roadside shootings and several prison breaks orchestrated by militant groups. 

Rising tensions between religious groups as well as over the nearby Syrian conflict have prompted fear that the country is headed back toward the type of all-out internal warfare that killed tens of thousands from 2006 to 2008.