64 civilians killed in Iraq's violence in April: UN

BAGHDAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Violence and terrorist attacks across Iraq killed 64 civilians and injured 121 others in April, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on Wednesday.

A UNAMI statement excluded the casualties of the security members, as the Iraqi military declined to give information about casualties among the troops.

Most of the civilian casualties occurred in Iraq's western province of Anbar, where 24 civilians were killed and 29 others injured, the statement said.

Jan Kubis, the UN envoy to Iraq and the UNAMI chief, said "the casualty figures reported continue steadily to decline after the military defeat of Daesh (Islamic State group) last year," according to the statement.

"This is good news, but the best news will be when Iraq is completely free of the threat of terrorism and is at peace," he added.

The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants across the country late in 2017.

However, small groups and individuals of extremist militants melted or regrouped in urban and rugged areas, and are carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down. Enditem