UN report: Iraq suffered at least 55,000 civilian casualties in 21 months

National Sun Times – 01/19/2016 – The civilian casualty numbers in Iraq as a result of the bloody conflict with ISIS total over 55,000 in a period of just 21 months, according to a new report from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The report says that from Jan. 1, 2014 through Oct. 31, 2015, the commission recorded at least 55,047 civilian casualties, including 18,802 people killed and 36,245 wounded.
“Owing to difficulties in undertaking verification of incidents recorded by UNAMI/OHCHR, the actual number of civilian casualties could be much higher than recorded,” the report notes.
The report also contains other shocking numbers, such as 3.2 million people inside Iraq who have been forced to flee their homes just between January of 2014 and September of 2015. That includes more than 1 million school children.
The report also estimates that between 800 and 900 children in the Iraqi city of Mosul have been abducted by ISIS for “religious education and military training.”
“Despite their steady losses to pro-government forces, the scourge of [ISIS] continues to kill, maim and displace Iraqi civilians in the thousands and to cause untold suffering,” U.N. special representative Ján Kubiš says in a statement.