This comes amid an uptick of violence across Iraq, most prominently Sunni-Shiite sectarian strife. But religious extremists from both persuasions who have targeted the prostitution business over the last decade have claimed many lives.
MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
See also...
Bombings in Iraq kill 19 people as worries over sectarian violence grow
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/21/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
In Iraq, 4 soldiers slain
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
Shiites targeted in Iraq in another day of sectarian strife
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/20/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
Baghdad, Anbar province racked by violence
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/19/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
Sectarian violence erupts anew in Iraq
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/18/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
Bombings kill dozens of Sunnis in Iraq
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/world/meast/iraq-unrest/index.html
6 dead in Baghdad attacks; 5 killed in Kirkuk suicide blast
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
12 car bombs in Baghdad and Kirkuk leave 29 dead, more than 120 hurt
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html
