Off the wire
• Cambodia's Angkor Wat earns over 43 mln USD from ticket sales in 9 months  • India mulls single emergency number, panic button in all mobile phones  • Ledo highway to be constructed in Myanmar's northernmost state  • Real Madrid pay homage to Ronaldo  • NFL team in London would earn 150 mln USD for British economy: Osborne  • FIBA introduces new calendar of 2017-2021 cycle  • WTA Wuhan Open semifinal results  • India pledges to reduce emissions by 33 to 35 pct in next 15 years  • Indian navy chief to visit Australia this week  • Urgent: Yemen cuts diplomatic relations with Iran: state TV  
You are here: 　 Home

At least 717 people killed in Iraq's violence in September: UN

Xinhua, October 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 717 Iraqis were killed and 1,216 others injured in terrorist attacks and violence in September, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement on Friday.

A total of 537 civilians, including 42 policemen and 180 Iraqi security forces personnel, were killed, while 925 other civilians, including 38 policemen, and 291 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 a total of 204 civilian casualties including 28 killed and 176 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.

The statement noted that the Iraqi capital of Baghdad was the worst affected province with 840 civilian casualties, including 257 killed and 583 injured, while the provinces of Diyala, Salahudin, Nineveh, and Kirkuk followed in the list.

"The United Nations remains deeply concerned by the ongoing violence and the high rate of ensuing casualties," the statement said, quoting UN envoy for Iraq and UNAMI chief Jan Kubis as saying.

However, Kubia noted that "the cycle of violence, displacement and migration, should not hamper the need to properly and meaningfully address the key economic, security, social and institutional reforms that will help stabilize the situation and restore hope among the Iraqis."

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, an 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