Ethnic violence has risen sharply in many parts of the country.
Yet as the violence on both sides rises, the danger becomes the very instability of which Assad warns.
During the last few months, violence has risen sharply within families and among neighbors.
The trend is the opposite in Basra, where violence has risen significantly in the past year.
They restored peace for a short time, but within two months, violence had risen again.
But violence has risen and taken on different forms.
The deaths come during a period in which violence has been rising in the country.
Several cities said that domestic violence had also risen.
You may wish that it had, particularly on the question of whether violence is lessening or rising.