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High death toll for Iraq in January: UN

February 1, 2015

The United Nations mission to Iraq says more than 1,300 people have died in violence in the country in January. Baghdad was the worst-hit city with regard to civilian casualties.

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In this file photo taken Tuesday, May 13, 2014, an Iraqi policeman stands by burning vehicles moments after one in a series of bombs hit the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo/Karim Kadim
Image: picture-alliance/AP

The United Nations said on Sunday that violence in Iraq in January killed at least 1,375 people, including 790 civilians.

In a statement, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, or UNAMI, said at least 1,469 civilians and 771 security force members were also wounded.

It said the capital, Baghdad, was the worst affected in terms of civilian casualties, with 256 deaths and 758 wounded.

The UN figures do not include territories held by the jihadist "Islamic State" group, which took over around a third of the country last year.

Resurgent violence

According to UNAMI figures, last year was the deadliest in Iraq in seven years, with a total of 12,282 people killed and 23,126 wounded.

Sectarian violence in Iraq reached a peak in 2006-2007, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.

The worst month for civilian casualties in 2014 was June, which saw 1,775 civilians killed and 2,351 injured.

Violence in Iraq has surged in recent months amid the war against "Islamic State," which has also seized large swathes of territory in neighboring Syria in its campaign to establish an Islamic "caliphate" in the region.

tj/sb (AP, AFP)