Iraq: July deadliest month in years as violence kills over 1,000 people, UN reports

A total of 1,057 Iraqis were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in the month of July, according to figures released today by the United Nations.

The number of civilians killed was 928, including 204 civilian police, while the number of civilians injured was 2,109, including 338 civilian police, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a news release. A further 129 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed and 217 were injured.

“The impact of violence on civilians remains disturbingly high, with at least 4,137 civilians killed and 9,865 injured since the beginning of 2013,” the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Gyorgy Busztin, warned.

“We haven’t seen such numbers in more than five years, when the blind rage of sectarian strife that inflicted such deep wounds upon this country was finally abating,” he added.

“I reiterate my urgent call on Iraq’s political leaders to take immediate and decisive action to stop the senseless bloodshed, and to prevent these dark days from returning.”

Baghdad was the worst-affected governorate in July with 957 civilian casualties (238 killed and 719 injured), followed by Salahuddin, Ninewa, Diyala, Kirkuk and Anbar. Babil, Wasit and Basra also reported casualties in the double digits.

On Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced alarm at the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq, where deadly attacks are becoming “all too commonplace,” and appealed to political leaders to take urgent action to stem the violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.