UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations accused the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) and its allies on Friday of imposing “untold hardship and suffering” on Iraqi civilians and cast doubt on Iraqi security forces’ ability to protect the civilians.

The ISIS and associated armed groups, says a report, have “carried out many of these attacks in a systematic manner heedless of the impact on civilians, or have systematically targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure with the intention of killing and wounding as many civilians as possible”.

The report compiled by the UN assistance mission for the UN human rights office and the UN mission in Iraq, is based on direct monitoring activities as well as a variety of sources, including civilian victims and witnesses, of events between June 5 and 5 July.

At least 1,531 civilians were killed in Iraq last month and 1,763 were wounded, according to UN figures. Some 1.2 million Iraqis have been internally displaced as a result of the violence — including over 600,000 since the beginning of June alone.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2014