Violence left 392 Iraqi civilians dead in February: United Nations

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Violence in Iraq during the month of February left 392 Iraqi civilians dead, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

“Acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in February” also left 613 injured, the organization said, pointing that the numbers exclude security personnel which the organization had said it ceased to provide as the Iraqi government asked to get them exclusively from its outlets.

Baghdad fell from its January first rank as the province most affected by the violence to second after Nineveh. “Ninewa(Nineveh) was the most affected Governorate, with 451 civilian casualties (201 killed, 250 injured). Baghdad Governorate followed with 120 killed and 300 injured, and Salahadin had 09 killed and 13 injured.

While lamenting the losses and condemning Islamic State militants as perpetrators of the violence, the U.N. representative in Iraq, Yan Kubish, praised the “professionalism” of Iraqi forces for seeking to minimize civilian casualties, according to the organization.

Violence surged in Iraq when Islamic State militants came to the scene in 2014, taking over large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria to proclaim a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate’. Iraqi government forces are currently leading a major campaign to retake Mosul, IS’s largest stronghold in the country and its previously-proclaimed caliphate capital.

“As the Iraqi security forces stepped up the military operations to liberate the remaining parts of Mosul from Daesh control, the terrorists struck again, targeting civilians with cowardly bombings to ease the pressure on the frontlines. ” Kubish said. “The security forces are making steady progress in Mosul and, despite the incessant provocations from the terrorists, are following the pre-planned concept of operations whose priority is securing the lives of Iraqis and minimizing civilian casualties.”