Post IS: Iraq’s civilian death toll down by four-fifths

Following the defeat of the Islamic State group, monitors and the UN report the civilian death toll in Iraq is down by 80 percent after 15 years of instability.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

10 June, 2018

العراق/كركوك/الانتخابات/مروان ابراهيم/فرانس برس

Iraq held parliamentary elections without any major security incident in May [AFP]

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in acts of violence since the beginning of the year has significantly dropped, largely due to defeat of the Islamic State group, United Nations and a monitor have said.

Reports released this week by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Iraq Body Count database show an 80 percent drop in civilian deaths in the first five months of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

UNAMI said 477 Iraqis were killed in acts of violence since the beginning of the year compared to 2,014 in the first five months of 2017, a drop of 76.3 percent.

The number of wounded during the same period dropped from 2,977 to 939, a decrease of 68.4 percent, it said.

Similar figures were given by the London-based Iraq Body Count, which tracks violent deaths in the country.

The number of civilian deaths from political and religious violence dropped from 7,708 in the first five months of 2017 to 1,818 during the same period in 2018 - a decrease of 76.4 percent.

Iraq held parliamentary elections without any major security incident in May since the 2003 US-led invasion.

And so far, the holy Muslim month of Ramadan - which started in mid-May - has gone on without major violence unlike previous years when it was rocked by deadly attacks.

Iraq declared victory in December over the IS, which had seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014.

However, the group continues to carry out attacks and bombings in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.