Islamic State-linked violence has slaughtered at least 18,802 civilians, enslaved thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, according to a United Nations report.
"The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering," the report by the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights declares.
ISIS commits "systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law," some of which include "crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," the report finds.
According to the report, U.N. monitors found that:
- At least 55,047 civilian casualties were linked to ISIS violence between Jan. 1, 2014, and last Oct. 31, with 18,802 people killed and 36,245 wounded.
- 3.2 million people became "internally displaced" including over one million school-age girls and boys during the same period.
- Some 3,500 people are believed to be held as captives, mostly women and children from the Yazidi religious minority who've been forced into sexual slavery.
U.N. human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein says the civilian death toll may be considerably higher,
NBC News reports.
"Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq," he said in a statement.
"Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq. The figures capture those who were killed or maimed by overt violence, but countless others have died from the lack of access to basic food, water or medical care."
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