UN says 1,690 Iraqi civilian casualties in July alone

Last month, a total of 629 Iraqi civilians were killed and 1,061 were injured in acts of terrorism and armed conflict in Iraq, excluding active conflict zones in Anbar province.

MENA

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02 August, 2016

IS has responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians [Getty]

A total of 629 Iraqi civilians were killed and 1,061 were injured in acts of terrorism and armed conflict in Iraq, excluding Anbar province, in July.

Another 130 members of the Iraqi military, including Peshmerga and allied militias, were killed and 146 were injured, to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq [UNAMI].

"The number of casualties as a result of terrorism, violence and conflict in Iraq continues to remain high," Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq [SRSG], Jan Kubis said.

"We continue to deplore this unacceptable situation and look forward to the day, hopefully soon, when peace and tranquillity will return to Iraq."

The most heavy-hit area was Baghdad with 513 civilians killed and 887 injured.

The UNAMI was not able to obtain the civilian casualty figures from the Anbar Health Department for this month.

In July, the Islamic State group [IS] carried out a suicide bombing in a crowded shopping area in Baghdad's Karrada district that killed 323 people - one of the deadliest such attacks to ever hit Iraq.


	The Karrada boming was one of the deadliest ever [Getty]

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged minibus in the crowded shopping area, sparking infernos in nearby buildings that burned many victims alive.

Last week, at least 12 people were killed after a car bomb exploded in the Iraqi town of Khales, north of the capital Baghdad.

The blast came a day after a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed at least 15 people in Baghdad's Shia-majority Kadhimiyah neighbourhood.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last IS-held city in the country.

The Islamist militants have responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, and experts have warned there may be more such attacks as the jihadists continue to lose ground.

Iraq descended into civil war and unrest shortly after the disastrous Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, mostly civilians, have been killed since.