UN: HUNDREDS KILLED IN IRAQ AMID ONGOING CRISIS
New York, 16 Sha’ban 1435/14 June 2014 (MINA) – Hundreds of Iraqi people have been killed in the country in the recent clashes, and nearly 300,000 others have been displaced to the provinces of Dohuk and Erbil in the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq, according to the UN.
At a press conference in New York on Friday, Farhan Haq — deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general — quoted Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as saying that “Iraq is currently witnessing a dramatic deterioration, including reports of random executions and extrajudicial killings.”
Haq said that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq, Nikolay Mladenov, was in contact with Iraqi leaders and was seeking “to reach a unified solution on the crisis.”
He pointed out that Mladenov stressed the need to keep Iraqi parliament operational amid the ongoing crisis, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
The current Iraqi parliament is supposed to to finish its mandate by Saturday and to be replaced by the new lawmakers elected in last April’s parliamentary vote.
However, the Iraqi Federal court has not authenticated the names of the new lawmakers.
In May, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s alliance won the parliamentary elections in Iraq as “State of Law” bloc had taken 92 of the 328 seats.
Under a de facto agreement established in recent years, Iraq’s prime minister is a Shia Arab, the president is a Kurd and the speaker of parliament is a Sunni Arab.
Commenting on the humanitarian situation, Haq said that more than 300,000 people had fled to Erbil and Dohuk province in northern Iraq over the week, while many families in Dahuk resorted to take shelter in schools, mosques and churches.
“There is an increasing number of Iraqis now living in makeshift camps in a checkpoint near Mosul. UN refugee agency has assisted in the provision of tents and other relief items,” said Haq.
He said that some families were returning to Mosul after hearing about the restoration of water and electricity services, adding that there were up to 25,000 people displaced in Mosul.
Haq confirmed that UN agencies were preparing for further aid operations, including some air flights organized by the World Food Program in Dubai to transfer humanitarian aid to Erbil.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL,which has developed into a formidable force inside Syria, has extended its reach in Iraq since Tuesday, gaining near-complete control of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit – Saddam Hussein’s birthplace – and seizing Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
The group seized large swaths of western Iraq’s Anbar Province in January , including much of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, flashpoints of the 2003 US-led war in the country.
ISIL was established shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was most recognizably known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, under the leadership of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Zawahiri cut ties with ISIL in February 2014 after a dispute with another militant group, Jabhat al-Nusra.
Recent reports place their forces within 70 kilometers of the capital.
Iraq has seen a marked increase in sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims in recent months, which the Iraqi government blames on ISIL. (T/P09/E01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
