Iraq has suspended the licences of 10 satellite TV channels for promoting "sectarianism", the country's media regulator said on Sunday, as more than 215 people were killed in the past six days. The bloody unrest, which began on Tuesday with deadly clashes between security forces and Sunni Arab anti-government protesters in north Iraq, has raised fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict that plagued the country in the past and killed tens of thousands.

Kurdish forces deployed to new areas of a disputed north Iraq province in what a top officer said Saturday was an attempt to move into oilfields, as five days of unrest killed more than 215 people. The deployments increased already high tensions in Iraq, adding a long-running Arab-Kurd dispute over territory to a stand-off between Sunni Arab protesters and the country's Shiite-led government that has descended into bloody violence.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday pointed to the civil war in Syria for the return of sectarian strife to Iraq, as Kurdish forces deploying near a disputed northern city further raised tensions. Maliki also called on anti-government protesters to expel "criminals" who targeted Iraqi forces, and the head of the Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militia threatened war if militants who killed soldiers were not handed over.

The United Nations warned on Friday that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as four days of violence, including several attacks at mosques, killed more than 200 people. "I call on the conscience of all religious and political leaders not to let anger win over peace, and to use their wisdom, because the country is at a crossroads," UN envoy Martin Kobler said in a statement. The call came a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned of a return to "sectarian civil war."