MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Over 650,000 civilians have been internally displaced in Iraq over the past weeks, and the total has reached 1.5 million, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in a report published Friday.
“The committee notes the persistence of terrorist attacks and the recent intensification of clashes between the Iraqi armed forces and the terrorist group calling itself the ‘Islamic State (IS).’ It further notes that in the last weeks thousands of civilians were killed or at risk of death, and over 650,000 people are internally displaced, most of them belonging to ethno-religious minority groups,” the committee said in its most recent report.
The committee also notes that Baghdad has failed to form an “inclusive government, resulting in deepening the division in Iraqi society among sectarian and ethnic lines.”
According to the report, Iraq currently hosts more than 220,000 Syrian refugees, mainly within Iraqi Kurdistan.
“Taking into consideration the longstanding human rights issues in the State party, the committee is particularly concerned that the ongoing conflict has a grave impact on a variety of minority groups,” the report says.
The IS, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS or ISIL), an al-Qaeda offshoot, was fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and in June launched a large-scale offensive in Iraq, seizing large parts of the country.
In June, the group declared itself a “caliphate,” changed its name to the Islamic State, claiming religious authority over all Muslims globally.
In August, the United States authorized airstrikes to help Bagdad fight against IS positions in Iraq.
