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Baghdad, Iraq, 01 May 2017 – A total of 317 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 403 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in April 2017*, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The number of civilians killed in April (not including police) was 309, while the number of injured (not including police) was 387.
Ninewa was the most affected Governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate followed 55 killed and 179 injured, and Salah al-Din had 15 killed and 43 injured.
According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the Governorate suffered a total of 74 civilian casualties (39 killed and 35 injured). Figures are updated until 27 April, inclusive.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Ján Kubiš, said civilians continue to pay a heavy price in the conflict, notably in Ninewa where in the city of Mosul Iraqi Security Forces are confronting the Daesh terrorists in heavy street fighting.
“Daesh terrorists have detonated car bombs in residential neighbourhoods in Mosul and attacked civilians desperately fleeing the fighting as the security forces liberate more territory from the terrorists. But Daesh’s atrocities were not confined to the combat zones and spared no one. They have struck in liberated areas where people are trying to rebuild their lives, using suicide bombers as in the attack in the Sunni heartland of Tikrit in Salah Al-Din Governorate earlier in April. They have also attacked with a suicide bombing in the Karrada neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad last weekend.”
“But Daesh’s savage campaign of terror has failed to weaken the will and the unity of the Iraqi people, who are increasingly seeing victory against the terrorists within reach,” Mr. Kubiš said.
*CAVEATS: In general, UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas. Figures for casualties from Anbar Governorate are provided by the Health Directorate and are noted in the April casualty report. Casualty figures obtained from the Anbar Health Directorate might not fully reflect the real number of casualties in those areas due to the increased volatility of the situation on the ground and the disruption of services. In some cases, UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. UNAMI has also received, without being able to verify, reports of large numbers of casualties along with unknown numbers of persons who have died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. Since the start of the military operations to retake Mosul and other areas in Ninewa, UNAMI has received several reports of incidents involving civilian casualties, which at times it has been unable to verify. For these reasons, the figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum.
For more information, please contact: Mr. Samir Ghattas, Director of Public Information/Spokesperson United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Phone: +964 790 193 1281, Email: ghattass@un.org or the UNAMI Public Information Office: unami-information@un.org