Latest figures released by the UN show that attacks and violence left nearly 900 people dead in May as Daesh militants step up their activities in the face of large-scale army operations.
According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of 867 Iraqis lost their lives last month, and 1,459 others were injured.
The UN mission added that there were 468 civilians among those killed, while the number of civilian injuries hit 1,041. Violence also claimed the lives of 399 members of the Iraqi security forces, and 418 others sustained injuries.
A large number of the fatalities were recorded in Baghdad, where 267 civilians were killed and 740 others wounded.
The troubled northern province of Nineveh saw 56 people killed. A total of 49 people died and 93 others were wounded in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala.
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq Jan Kubis expressed remorse over the continuing loss of life as a result of violence in Iraq.
He urged the Baghdad government to take more effective measures to protect civilians against militant attacks.
“Iraqi civilians going about their daily life have been the target of terrorist bombers and car bombs. In some of these attacks, pilgrims have been singled out. Residential neighborhoods have sustained heavy damage. Armed clashes have spared no one,” the UN official said.
Kubis added, however, that “the will of the Iraqi people, despite all the carnage, remains unshaken and this gives hope for the future. Joining the people of Iraq, in particular the residents of Baghdad where a number of attacks took place, I urge the government to make every effort to prevent the occurrence of such outrages.”
Last month, Baghdad saw two of its bloodiest days since the outbreak of Daesh violence in the country in 2014.
Nearly 100 people lost their lives and over 170 others sustained injuries on May 11, when the terror group targeted mainly-Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, while similar terror attacks left some 162 people killed and wounded in the capital a week later on May 17.
