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In one of Iraq’s deadliest months in years, 1,375 people were killed and 2,240 were wounded in acts of “terrorism or violence” in January, the United Nations reported.
In monthly statistics released yesterday, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said civilians represented more than half of the casualties, with 790 killed and 1,469 wounded.
The dead also included 585 members of the Iraqi army which is struggling to rebuild itself after fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group seized large parts of the country last year.
January’s total casualty figure of 3,615 was higher than in any month in 2014 – which the UNAMI says was the deadliest year since 2008.
UNAMI said Baghdad was the worst affected province in January with 1,014 civilian casualties (256 killed, 758 injured), while Anbar suffered a total of 779 civilian casualties (195 killed and 584 injured).
Diyala province was the next worst affected with a total of 114 killed and 49 injured. The deaths appear to include more than 70 unarmed civilians who were reportedly killed in the village of Barwanah last week as they fled from ISIL fighters.
Sunni politicians and tribal chiefs have accused Shia fighters of being responsible for the killings.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi hosted a security summit in the capital on Saturday with political and religious leaders, in a bid to unite the country’s factions against ISIL. At the talks, Abbadi made an apparent reference to the alleged massacre in Diyala province.
“I have said it before and will say it today – those who were conducting killings and kidnapping crimes in Baghdad and other cities are no less dangerous than terrorists,” he said. — Al Jazeera
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