BAGHDAD, March 3 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials sought to clamp down on sectarian violence Friday by closing off much of Baghdad with a daytime vehicular curfew.
With shops closed and streets virtually deserted, soldiers and police devoted their attention to trying to prevent sectarian attacks against mosques and worshippers, CNN said.
The capital was pretty much sealed off with only the most official vehicles traveling between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday. The overnight ban began at 8 p.m.
The anti-violence move followed another wave of attacks, including the killing of at least 18 workers at two brick factories east of Baghdad. The Thursday toll of bombings and shooting assaults was at least 40 dead.
Meanwhile, imams were urged by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to practice "sermons of unity."
Sectarian violence flared after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra. Hundreds of people have died in the resulting fighting.
