U.N. Report: 26,000 Civilian Casualties In Iraq Conflict This Year

Ali Abu Shish/Reuters

U.N. Reports At Least 26,000 Civilian Casualties In Iraq Conflict This Year -- New York Times

GENEVA — The conflict in Iraq has killed and wounded at least 26,000 civilians this year, with the toll accelerating in recent weeks as Islamic State fighters sought to expand their control of parts of northern Iraq, the United Nations reported Thursday.

The casualty count includes 9,343 people killed from January to the end of September, the United Nations said in a joint report by its mission in Iraq and its human rights office in Geneva, which emphasized that the figures were “absolute minimums.”

More than 5,500 deaths have occurred since the offensive by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, begun in June. Among the casualties were over 2,000 people slaughtered in mass executions and others killed in attacks that the United Nations said systematically targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. The extremists’ offensive has involved ethnic cleansing, abductions, rape, and other physical and sexual violence against women and children, the United Nations’ human rights monitors said.

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Update #1: Islamic State Has Killed Thousands of Civilians in Iraq, UN Says -- WSJ
Update #2: UN Records Spike in Iraqi Deaths Amid Islamic State Onslaught -- Bloomberg Businessweek

My Comment: I suspect that these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.