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Roundup: Civilians main victims of staggering violence in Iraq: report

Xinhua, January 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

A joint United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report indicated on Tuesday that as many as 3,855 civilians lost their lives between May 1 and Oct. 31, 2015 in Iraq as a result of ongoing violence there.

With a further 7,056 maimed in the period under review, these figures bring the total number of deaths in the country to 18,802 civilians between January 2014 and Oct. 31 last year, with a further 36,245 wounded and another 3.2 million internally displaced.

The report on the protection of civilians in the armed conflict in Iraq warned, however, that casualty figures could be much higher, adding that the number of people who have died as a result of lack of access to basic food, water or medical care remains unknown.

"The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering. The so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) continues to commit systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law," the report stated.

"These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," the report added.

According to findings, victims include those perceived to be against Islamic State ideology, government-affiliated individuals, doctors, lawyers, and journalists, as well as tribal and religious leaders.

Accounts of killings carried out by the Islamic State in the form of gruesome public spectacles where victims are shot, beheaded, bulldozed, burned alive and thrown off tall buildings are detailed in the report.

The use of improvised explosive devices have further compounded the dire situation on the ground, with as many as 7,086 casualties (1,717 killed and 5,369 wounded) resulting from body-borne, vehicle borne and suicide vehicle-borne devices.

Allegations of international human rights and international humanitarian law violations and abuses by Iraqi Security Forces (IFS) and associated forces including militia and tribal groups, popular mobilization units, and Peshmerga are also documented.

"I strongly reiterate my call to all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians from the effects of violence," said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jan Kubis, in a statement.

"I also call on the international community to enhance its support to the government of Iraq's humanitarian, stabilization and reconstruction efforts in areas liberated from ISIL, so that all Iraqis displaced by violence can return to their homes in safety and in dignity and that affected communities can be re-established in their places of origin," he added.

Findings came against the backdrop of protracted fighting between the government and associated forces and the Islamic State in the governorates of Anbar, Salah al-Din, Ninewa and Kirkuk, as opposing factions vied to gain control of strategically important regions and sites. Endit