In less than two years, 19,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq

The United Nations announced in a report published on Tuesday, January 29, that from the beginning of 2014 until the end of October 2015, at least 18,800 civilians were killed in Iraq amid the battle between government forces and the Islamic State group, with over 36,000 others injured. According to the Associated Press, the UN report also collected and published evidence and statistics related to other forms of human rights violations, including the enslavement of approximately 3,500 individuals by the Islamic State group. The majority of these individuals, who were captured by the Islamic State in the summer of 2014, are women from the Yazidi minority who were forced into sexual slavery by this jihadist group. The report states that around 800 to 900 children were also forcibly abducted from the city of Mosul for religious and military training. According to collected evidence, several of these young fighters who fled from the front lines during recent battles in Anbar province were killed by the Islamic State group. The UN report describes the civilian casualties in Iraq as 'shocking.' It also details various methods used by ISIS to kill its opponents, including public beheadings, crushing victims with bulldozers, burning them alive, and throwing them from tall buildings. The report states, 'These methods are used regularly and extensively, all of which constitute violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. These actions are also considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.' The Associated Press reminds that Iraqi armed forces have made progress against the Islamic State group in several fronts in recent months and have finally managed to retake the city of Ramadi from this group. However, Jan Kubis, the UN special envoy for Iraq, stated, 'Despite the retreat of the Islamic State group against government forces, the group's machinery of repression continues to kill opponents and civilians, subjecting thousands of Iraqis to various forms of abuse and displacement, resulting in suffering and hardships that we rarely hear about.' Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the number of civilian casualties in Iraq could be much higher than this figure. He added, 'Even the shocking statistics regarding casualties and injuries collected by the UN cannot reflect the extent of the suffering of the Iraqi people.' The group known as the Islamic State has captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014 with its widespread and sudden attacks. This group has established a self-proclaimed caliphate in these areas and implements its radical interpretation of Islamic law with violence and ruthless repression.