A new United Nations report has tried to count the civilian toll of continuing conflict in Iraq, largely at the hands of Islamic State militants, and the numbers are "staggering."
"Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Jan. 19, Catholic News Agency reported.
"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."
He said the report showed the sufferings of Iraqi civilians and "starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape from when they flee to Europe and other regions."
"This is the horror they face in their homelands."
Between January 2014 and October 2015, at least 18,802 civilians were killed in Iraq. About half of them died in Baghdad province. Another 36,000 were injured.