317 civilians killed in violence, armed conflicts in Iraq in April: UN

The United Nations says terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts took the lives of more than 300 people and left hundreds of others wounded in Iraq last month.  

According to the latest figures released by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Monday, terrorist attacks claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis and left 403 others wounded last month.

The UN mission added that the death toll included 309 civilians, while the number of injured civilians stood at 309.

The worst-affected area was the northern province of Nineveh, where violence took the lives of 153 civilians and left 123 others wounded. Fifty-five people also lost their lives in the capital province of Baghdad, and 179 others sustained injuries there.

“Daesh terrorists have detonated car bombs in residential neighborhoods 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 bombers,” said Jan Kubis, the UN envoy to Iraq and the UNAMI chief, citing an attack in the city of Tikrit in Salahuddin Province earlier in April and a bombing in the Karradah neighborhood 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,” Kubis pointed out.

Daesh put 13 Iraqi civilians to death in western Mosul

Meanwhile, members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have executed more than a dozen civilians who were fleeing the western part of Mosul.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Baghdadia news agency that the Daesh terrorists leveled charges of “attempts to cross to the land of infidels” against 15 residents of Mosheirfeh region and then executed them.

Three children and a woman were among the slain victims, the source added.

Iraqi army soldiers and pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, have made sweeping gains against the Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

The United Nations says nearly half a million civilians have fled fighting since the offensive to retake Mosul started on October 17, 2016.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on April 17 that 493,000 people had been displaced from the city, located some 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.

As many as 500,000 civilians are still trapped in then Daesh-controlled neighborhoods of western Mosul.

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