IRAQ VIOLENCE KILLS OVER 1,100 IN FEBRUARY: UN

Baghdad, 11 Jumadil Awwal 1436/2 March 2015 (MINA) – Latest figures released by the United Nations show ongoing violence and terror activities claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people across Iraq in February.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement on Sunday that 611 civilians were among the 1,103 people killed last month. The rest were members of the security forces.

UNAMI further said at least 2,280 people, including 1,353 civilians, were wounded across Iraq last month, adding that the capital city of Baghdad was worst hit by the violence with 329 people dead and 875 injured, Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Monday(2/3).

The UN mission also put January’s death toll at least 1,375, including some 790 civilians. The numbers provided by the UN do not include the death toll in the country’s regions held by the Takfiri ISIL group.

“Daily terrorist attacks perpetrated by ISIL continue to deliberately target all Iraqis,” Nickolay Mladenov, the special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Iraq, adding, “There are also concerning reports of a number of revenge killings by armed groups in areas recently liberated from ISIL.”

The UN official called for unity among Iraqi leaders, saying “an exclusively military solution to the problem of ISIL is impossible.”

The report came a day after two deadly car bomb attacks killed more than 50 people and wounded some 70 others in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala and the city of Samarra in Salahuddin in the country’s north.

According to UNAMI, last year was the deadliest in Iraq since 2006-2007, with a total of 12,282 people killed and 23,126 wounded.

The Takfiri ISIL terrorist group started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of the city of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers and Sunni tribesmen have recently succeeded in driving the terrorists out of some areas in Iraq. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)