Violence Flares in Divided Baghdad

Violence Flares in Divided Baghdad:
BAGHDAD, July 10 -- A barrage of bombings and gunfire killed at least 40 people in Iraq on Monday in a burst of sectarian warfare a day after Shiite Muslim militiamen terrorized a Sunni Arab neighborhood in Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Iraqis to "unite as brothers" and stop the cycle of retaliatory violence.

But the killings that started Sunday morning -- with mobs of gunmen pulling Sunnis out of their cars and storming their homes in the neighborhood of al-Jihad -- spread to Shiite enclaves in the capital and other cities across Iraq.

Many in Iraq expressed fear that the recent attacks were pushing the country past isolated killings into civil war.

Two car bombs exploded Monday morning on a commercial street in the Shiite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad in apparent retribution for the killings of Sunnis the day before. The two bombs, within 10 minutes of each other, crumbled buildings, killed 11 people and injured 17 others, Col. Sami Jasim of the Interior Ministry said. The second explosion was aimed at a police patrol, a frequent target of attacks in recent months. More>>>