UN: ISIS is still far from defeat in Iraq

The top United Nations official in Iraq has said that ISIS is still far from defeat and the gains made by the Iraqi government are still weak, Alamatonline.com reported on Wednesday.

In a report offered to the UN Security Council, Ján Kubiš, the Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), warned that “the military offensives of the Iraqi security forces, with the critical support of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, tribal Sunni volunteers, and the International Coalition, have yet to significantly change the situation on the ground.”

The top UN official called for the Iraqi government to work towards achieving a national reconciliation based on a wide political and social support. He also called for both the Iraqi government and Erbil to continue adhering to their obligations as part of the oil deal reached in December 2014.

Institutional and legislative reforms remain key to preserving Iraq’s unity, encouraging political reconciliation and to defeating ISIL, Mr. Kubiš explained, regretting that the “absence of consensus” has halted such process.

Regarding the humanitarian situation in Iraq, Kubiš said that the humanitarian repercussions of the current conflict are huge and overrun the ability of any government. Therefore, he called for more “continuous and massive support” from the international community for Iraq.

Kubiš said that 25 per cent of Iraqis require humanitarian aid, including 3 million who are internally displaced and in an urgent need of humanitarian support.

Recalling that the human cost of the conflict remains “far too high”, Kubiš said that since he last briefed the Council, UNAMI had recorded a minimum of 1,200 civilians killed and more than 2,000 wounded as a result of armed conflict or terror attacks.

“To restore trust and to rebuild unity between the various communities that form the Iraqi people, it is necessary to ensure justice and accountability for violations and abuses, whenever they have taken place and by whomever they were perpetrated, and to eliminate discrimination and marginalisation wherever it occurs,” he said.