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At least 1,332 people killed in Iraq's violence in July: UN

Xinhua, August 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 1,332 Iraqis were killed and 2,108 others injured in terrorist attacks and violence in July in Iraq, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement on Saturday.

A total of 844 civilians, including 27 policemen, and 488 Iraqi security forces personnel were killed, while 1,616 other civilians, including 38 policemen, and 492 security members were wounded, according to the statement.

The total figures of killed and wounded civilians included the casualties in the volatile province of Anbar, which suffered of 600 civilian casualties (147 killed and 453 injured), according to the statement which obtained the information from the Health Directorate of Anbar province, most of which the Islamic State (IS) militant group has seized.

"Casualty figures obtained from the Anbar Health Directorate might not fully reflect the real number of casualties in those areas due to the increased volatility of the situation on the ground and the disruption of services," the statement said.

"In general, the UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas," it said. "The figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum."

It added that there are an unknown number of people who died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicine and health care.

"Since last summer's onslaught by terrorists of the so-called ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and Levant which later changed to IS), Iraq has been living through one of the most difficult phases in its modern history," the statement said, quoting UN envoy for Iraq and UNAMI chief Jan Kubis as saying.

Kubis also said that "resolute action about Daesh (IS group) and its ideology, equality and cooperation of all Iraqi components as true patriots in these efforts is needed to put an end to this tragic situation."

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of militants from the IS.

The militants took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

Earlier, a UNAMI report estimated about 14,136 civilians were killed and 29,189 others wounded in the armed conflict in Iraq since Jan. 1, 2014 to the end of April 2015. Endit