GENEVA
At least 9,347 civilians have been killed and 17,386 have been wounded in Iraq so far in 2014, the UN said Thursday.
Half the casualties are said to have occurred after Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known by the initials ISIL, began taking control of large parts of northern Iraq last June.
"The array of violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups is staggering, and many of their acts may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
Also Thursday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq jointly issued a report on the protection of civilians in the ongoing conflict in Iraq. It covers the period between July 6 and Sept. 10.
"As of August 2014, an estimated 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced due to the ongoing violence," the report said.
It added that there were "serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuses of human rights in Iraq that have been perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups, with an apparent systematic and widespread character."
"These include attacks directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against women and children, forced recruitment of children, destruction or desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, wanton destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms," the report said.
The report said Turkmen, Shabak, Christians, Ezidis and others have particularly been affected.
"Many villages inhabited by the Turkmen, Yezidi, and Shabak in northern Sinjar District and parts of Tal Afar District were virtually surrounded by ISIL and associated armed groups," it said.
The report also stated that Iraqi Security Forces have violated international humanitarian law by carrying out airstrikes, killing captured ISIL fighters and abducting civilians.
www.aa.com.tr/en
