Iraq takes aim at media as security forces struggle to contain strife


Al Jazeera's office is seen after it was shutdown in Baghdad May 12, 2016. Picture taken May 12 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite-led authorities have shut the offices of two television channels popular with Sunni Iraqis and ordered a satirical show off air, tightening control over the media as political tensions rise in Baghdad.

The crackdown, which began in March, appears to be prompted by concerns that the channels could enflame sectarian rivalries which over-stretched security forces would struggle to contain. But it also raises fears over freedom of expression.

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