'Sad of state affairs' in Iraq as last month's surge in violence leaves more casualties – UN

5 October 2016 - The United Nations in Iraq has reported that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict in the country, with a more than 28 per cent spike in fatalities and a 17 per cent increase in injuries from August to September this year.

"It is a very sad state of affairs that the numbers of Iraqis killed and injured remains very high and unacceptable. Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence," said Ján Kubiš, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq said in a news release issued by the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI), which he heads.

Of the 1,003 people killed in September, 609 were civilians. Of the 951 injured, 922 were non-military persons. Both categories were comprised of members of the federal police, Sahwa civil defence, personal security details, facilities protection police and fire department constituted the balance of casualties.

The 394 Iraqi Security Force members killed included Peshmerga, SWAT and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi Army, excluding Anbar Operations. An additional 208 were injured (excluding Anbar casualties).

With 1,127 civilian casualties, Baghdad, the worst affected governorate, suffered 289 deaths and 838 injured. Elsewhere, Ninewa tallied 42 fatalities and 55 injured; Salahadin had 23 killed and 10 injured; Kirkuk endured 23 killed and nine injured; and two people in Babil were killed and four injured.

According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the governorate suffered 254 civilian casualties - including 219 killed and 35 injured - according to figures updated to include 28 September.

"The Holy month of Muharram has started and I sincerely hope that the killings will stop during this month," Mr. Kubiš concluded.