Iraqis. The United States abhors all such attacks and is committed to its partnership with the Government of Iraq to combat the scourge of terrorism, according to a statement released by the embassy. Iraq has experienced an uptick in sectarian violence this year as tensions simmer between the disaffected minority Sunni community and the Shiites, who dominate the government. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom notes that many people in small religious minority communities in Iraq, including Christians, have fled the country over the last decade and those that remain are particularly vulnerable, facing discrimination, marginalization, and neglect. Sectarian warfare, especially between Sunnis and Shiites, raged during the Iraq War. Half or more of the pre-2003 Iraqi Christian community is thought to have left Iraq, the commission said in its 2013 annual report. In 2003, there were thought to be 800,000 to 1.4 million Chaldean Catholics, Assyrian Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East members, Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, Armenian Catholics and Orthodox, Protestants and evangelicals in the country, the group said. Now, according to community leaders, the estimated number of Christians stands at around 500,000, the report said. Afghanistan attack Two rounds of indirect fire hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, the embassy said. No one was injured. At