UNAMI: Over 1,000 Iraqi civilian casualties in February

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The latest record of over 1,000 civilian casualties in February was a result of terrorism, violence, and armed conflict in Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported on Thursday.

The monthly count identified 392 dead and 613 injured casualties, excluding security personnel casualties, in Iraq during the month of February.

Nineveh was the worst affected province on the list with a total of 451 civilian casualties — 201 killed and 250 wounded.

Baghdad came next with 120 deaths and 300 injuries, while Salahaddin had nine deaths and 13 injuries.

Based on the limited evidence given by the Anbar Health Director, Anbar Province suffered a loss of 42 people killed and 44 wounded.

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Jan Kubis condemned the Islamic State (IS) who attacked civilians retreating from Mosul. 

“As the Iraqi security forces stepped up the military operations to liberate the remaining parts of Mosul from [IS’] control, the terrorists struck again, targeting civilians with cowardly bombings to ease the pressure on the front lines,” Kubis stated.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the efforts of Iraqi forces in minimizing civilian casualties while fighting terrorism.

“But [IS’] sinister attempts have failed to weaken the resolve of the people and Government of Iraq to rid the country once and for all from the scourge of terrorism,” he added.

Moreover, Kubis urged everything should be done to ensure civilians were protected from harm and violence.

UNAMI stopped providing military casualty figures after the Iraqi army labeled the organization’s data as “wrong” in late 2016.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany