Geneva, Oct 2 (IANS/EFE) At least 9,347 Iraqi civilians have been killed and 17,386 others injured during the first nine months of this year in the offensive by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation in Iraq, the UN announced Thursday.
A report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said most of the deaths and injuries occurred from June 1 when the Sunni Muslim jihadi group intensified its offensive to overrun northern Iraq.
The report made clear that these figures were documented cases and that the actual total of dead and injured could be much higher as the number of people who died from indirect causes were not known.
Children, pregnant women, the disabled and the elderly were particularly vulnerable to death and injury during the period the report covers.
According to the report, the number of displaced people until August stood at more than 1.8 million, more than a million of whom were staying in areas controlled by the jihadis or the central government, while 800,000 were surviving in the Kurdistan region.
Expert analysis cited in the report indicates that the IS fighters had carried out serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious human rights abuses in a systematic way.
The jihadis were blamed for the random killings of civilians, kidnapping, rapes and other forms of sexual abuse, and violence against women and children.
Members of the Turkmen, Shabak, Christian, Yazidi, Kurd and Shia communities were especially affected by these violations.
The report claimed that the IS purposely attacked members of these communities to eradicate them in an effort at "ethnic cleansing" of the areas under their control.
According to the report, these atrocities could amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes under international law.
The report also denounced the Iraqi security forces and allied military forces for committing serious abuses that violate international humanitarian law.
The abuses were committed in carrying out haphazard bombing of IS targets, as well as military operations that have violated the principles of distinction.
--IANS/EFE
ab/vt
