ReliefWeb

Baghdad, 01 November 2018 – A total of 69 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 105 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in October 2018*, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

The figures include ordinary citizens and others considered civilian at the time of death or injury, such as police in non-combat functions, civil defence, personal security teams, facilities protection police and fire department personnel.

These are the lowest monthly casualty figures since UNAMI began publishing them in November 2012. “While regretting the casualties, the fact that these figures are the lowest UNAMI has recorded since November 2012, is a positive indicator and shows that the country is gradually coming out of the cycle of violence into which it was forced by terrorists,” said Ján Kubiš, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (SRSG) for Iraq.

Ninewa was the worst affected Governorate, with 65 civilian casualties (29 killed, 36 injured), followed by Baghdad (29 killed and 35 injured) and Anbar (05 killed and 19 injured).

*CAVEATS: UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in certain areas; in some cases, UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. Figures for casualties from Anbar Governorate are provided by the Health Directorate and are noted above. 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. For these reasons, the figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum.

For more information, please contact: Mr. Khalid Dahab, Deputy Director of Public Information/Deputy Spokesperson, United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Phone: +964 790 194 0146, Email: dahab@un.org or the UNAMI Public Information Office: unami-information@un.org