Home > Sectarian violence

An example of sectarian violence was the fights between the Sunni Taliban sect of Islam and the Shia sect in Afghanistan. Another example between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam are the bombings at in Pakistan.

The term is particularly frequently used to refer to the inter- communal conflict in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 2002, known as " The Troubles". Nearly all the people living in Northern Ireland identified themselves as belonging to either the Protestant or the (Roman) Catholic community. People of no religion and non-Christian faiths are still considered as belonging to one of the two "sects" along with churchgoers. In this context, "Protestants" means essentially descendants of immigrants from Scotland settled in Ulster during or soon after the 1690s; also known as "Loyalists" or "Unionists" because they generally support politically the status of Northern Ireland as a part of the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly. "Catholics" means descendants of the pre-1690 indigenous IrishEthnic groups Irish ethnicity is common in the world, as many people are descended from Ireland or share an Irish heritage. In the independent Republic of Ireland most people are descended from a mix of two groups, the Gaelic Irish who came from Spain aro population, who generally politically favour a united IrelandThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan.

In many cases, the cause of violence is rarely only because of sectarian differences but is often also because of a power struggle or has social, or economic, or nationalistic aspects.

See also cult homicides