UNAMI highlights Kirkuk violence in monthly casualty figures report

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Sunday released its monthly report for casualty figures in the country.

According to the UNAMI report, 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured in “acts of terrorism, violence, and armed conflict” in Iraq in November.

“The number of civilians killed in November (not including police) was 114, while the number of injured (not including police) was 264,” the UN organization said in its report.

In the past, the Iraqi government has prevented the UNAMI from recording and reporting Iraqi security forces and police casualties.

Of the figures documented in the report, Baghdad was the worst affected region in the country with over 201 civilian casualties—51 killed, and 150 injured.

On Nov. 27, a suicide bomb attack which targeted a crowded market in the Nahrawan area of the Iraqi capital killed 17 and wounded 28 others.

Salahuddin Province was the second worst affected area in the country with 24 people killed and 60 others injured.

Kirkuk, a disputed territory between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, has seen an increase in violence following its takeover by government forces and Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias.

The UNAMI reported that violence in Kirkuk last month had killed 12 people and injured another 28.

The ongoing violence in the country “which caused numerous casualties among civilians [is] a horrible reminder that the terrorists can still inflict blows at peaceful citizens,” Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Jan Kubis noted.

“The two bombings in Tuz Khurmatu, Salahuddin Governorate, and in Baghdad in November [means] that all measures need to be taken by the authorities to protect civilians against the barbarism of the terrorists,” Kubis added.