600,000 Iraqis displaced, 1,420 killed, 1,370 injured in August according to United Nations

ccording to casualty figures released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of at least 1,420 Iraqis were killed and another 1,370 were injured in acts of terrorism and violence in August.

A statement by UNAMI received by IraqiNews.com cited “The number of civilians killed was 1,265 (including 77 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 1,198 (including 105 civilian police). A further 155 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed, and 172 were injured (not including casualties from Anbar operation).”

“In August alone the UN estimates that 600,000 people have been displaced while thousands continue to be targeted and killed by ISIL and associated armed groups simply on account of their ethnic or religious background”, said the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Nickolay Mladenov.

“The true cost of this human tragedy is staggering”, he added.

“Despite the difficult conditions, urgent measures are being taken by the Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the international community to alleviate the suffering of those fleeing the violence and to secure the return of displaced people to their places of origin in safety and dignity”, Mr. Mladenov stressed.

“Data do not take into account casualties of the current conflict in Anbar, for which we report separately the figures received from our sources, but which remain unverified by UNAMI. In general, UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties from conflict areas and areas under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and associated armed groups,” the statement continued.

“In some cases, UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. In addition to the verified figures provided below, UNAMI has also received, without being able to verify, reports of hundreds of casualties along with a large number of reports of civilians who have died from secondary effects of violence, having fled their homes but who perished from lack of access to water, food, medicines and health care in extreme weather conditions. These cases have not been included in the final tally. For these reasons, the figures reported are the absolute minimum number of casualties for the month of August – the actual figures could be significantly higher,” the statement emphasized.

Concerning the civilian casualties killed and injured per governorate the statement mentioned “Anbar excluded, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 857 civilian casualties (246 killed, 611 injured), followed by Nineveh (625 killed, 70 injured), Kirkuk (95 killed, 248 injured), Diyala (140 killed, 94 injured), Salahadin (105 killed, 103 injured).”

Over the operations in Anbar the statement added “According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the total civilian casualties in Anbar up to 31 August, inclusive, were 268 killed and 796 injured, with 53 killed and 360 injured in Ramadi and 215 killed and 436 injured in Fallujah.”