When the last American military forces exited Iraq in December 2011, they left in their wake a society fractured by sectarian strife. A year and a half later, the aftermath is little closer to being resolved than before—and that fact is continuing to exemplify itself in brutal ways.

This April earned a rather ugly distinction as the bloodiest month in Iraq since 2008. More than 700 people have been killed and scores more injured in this month.

They are just the latest victims of the ongoing conflict between supporters of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government and members of Iraq’s Sunni majority.

In just one instance, 36 people were killed by car bombings in a Shiite section of Baghdad—the culmination of months of Sunni protests against the Shiite government.

The attacks have extended beyond the capital, however. Multiple provinces, as well as the cities of Fallujah and Hawija, have also born witness to bloodshed on both sides.

Aside from a potential indication of what is to come, the month of April of Iraq is just one more grim reminder of what America’s presence in Iraq yielded—or perhaps failed to yield, depending on your point of view.

It is but one more footnote to the eight-year conflict’s legacy—alongside thousands more dead or displaced, billions of dollars in war-costs, a broken democracy, and a country seemingly without direction. It will by no means be the last.