Thousand Iraqis killed in September
5 Oct Tehran Times
Nearly 1,000 Iraqis were killed in September, one of the highest
monthly death tolls in years, the UN said , giving a somber figure that
reflects the militants’ determination to rekindle large-scale sectarian
conflict.
Iraq is going through its worst surge in violence since 2008, with
near-daily militant attacks and relentless bombings blamed on hard-line
Sunni insurgents. The surge followed a deadly crackdown by the Shia-led
government on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq in April. More than
5,000 people have been killed since then.
A statement from UNAMI said the mission recorded the deaths of 979
Iraqis in insurgent attacks in September. They included 887 civilians
while the rest were members of security forces and Iraqi troops.The
figure was slightly lower than the UN's July death toll, which stood at
1,057, but still one of the highest in years.The report said the
worst-affected part was the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, where 418 people
were killed in September. It said 2,133 people were wounded in last
month's violence.
The UN representative in Baghdad said the report raised a stark alarm
and called on Iraq's political rivals to come together.“As terrorists
continue to target Iraqis indiscriminately, I call upon all political
leaders to strengthen their efforts to promote national dialogue and
reconciliation,” Nickolay Mladenov was quoted as saying in the report.
“Political, religious and civil leaders as well as the security services
must work together to end the bloodshed and ensure that all Iraqi
citizens feel equally protected.”
Hours earlier, Al-Qaeda's local franchise in Iraq claimed
responsibility for Monday's string of car bombings that mostly targeted
Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing 55 people.The Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant said the attacks were in retaliation to the
“arrests, torturing and targeting of Sunnis” by the government and vowed
more attacks.The Al-Qaeda statement's authenticity could not be
independently confirmed but it was posted on a website commonly used by
militants and its style was consistent with earlier statements by the
terror network.Attacks continued on Tuesday, killing at least six
people.
In the northern city of Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of
the Iraqi capital, three suicide attackers tried to storm a building of
the Interior Ministry's anti-explosives division, killing an officer and
two policemen, officials said. Five other policemen were wounded.In the
town of Tarmiyah, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad, a
bomb went off next to a patrol of anti-Al-Qaeda Sunni militia, killing
two and wounding three militiamen.
The pro-government militia, known as Sahwa, was established during
the height of insurgency to fight Al-Qaeda along with U.S. and Iraqi
forces. They are considered by Al-Qaeda as traitors.In Baghdad, two
gunmen on a motorcycle went on shooting spree in the southwestern
Saydiyah neighborhood, killing one civilian and wounding six, another
police officer said.Three medical officials confirmed the causality
figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not
authorized to talk to the media.
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