Tuesday, June 24, 2014

UN: More Than 1,075 Killed in Last 17 Days in Iraq; ISIS Militants Control Major Areas of 5 Provinces

The United Nations said today (June 24, 2014) that more than 1,075 People -- at least three-quarters of them civilians -- were killed so far this month in Iraq, as Islamist militants swept through large swaths of northern and western Iraq, the Times of India website reports.

Another 658 people were injured in the country in the 17 days from June 5 to 22, Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN human rights office told reporters in Geneva.

He added the numbers "should be viewed very much as a minimum." At least 757 civilians were killed and another 599 injured in the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala, and Salah al-Din, he said.

At least 318 more people -- not all civilians -- had been killed and 590 injured in Baghdad and areas in the south, "many of them as a result of at least six separate vehicle-borne bombs," he said. Militants led by jihadists from ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) have since early June overrun major areas of five provinces and driven to less than 60 miles from Baghdad.

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