ISIL’s ‘legacy of terror’ in Iraq: UN verifies over 200 mass graves

Nov 07, 2018, at 08:57 am

New York, Nov 7 (IBNS): Investigators have uncovered more than 200 mass graves containing thousands of bodies in areas of Iraq formerly controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), according to a United Nations human rights report out on Tuesday.

ISIL continues to pose a ‘serious challenge’ worldwide – UN counter-terror chief

Aug 24, 2018, at 09:06 am

New York, Aug 24 (IBNS): Despite serious military setbacks, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) may still have around 20,000 fighters and is continuing its dangerous transformation into a covert global network, while focusing on the activities of its regional offshoots, the United Nations Security Council was told.

Iraqis vote in first election since ISIL defeat; UN chief hails polls as progress on path to stronger democracy

May 14, 2018, at 02:24 pm

New York,  May 14 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has congratulated the people of Iraq on the holding yesterday of the first national parliamentary elections since the country declared victory over Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Dae'sh) terrorists late last year.

Mass evacuations from Syria’s war-ravaged cities ‘desperate measures in desperate times,’ says senior UN adviser

Apr 05, 2018, at 03:32 pm

New York, Apr 5 (IBNS): In Syria, the mass evacuation of civilians is threatening to leave aid workers “overrun” and “acutely underfunded,” as details emerge of the unparalleled destruction in urban areas like the former ISIL-held city of Raqqa, UN senior adviser Jan Egeland said on Wednesday.

At donor conference, UN chief launches two-year plan to fast-track Iraq reconstruction

Feb 15, 2018, at 02:18 pm

New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday launched a reconstruction programme for Iraq, urging the global community to support Iraqis as they embark on the journey to rebuild their country and make sure that it is committed to unity and inclusivity.

International community must stay ‘one step ahead’ of ISIL, stresses UN official

Feb 09, 2018, at 01:59 pm

Both ISIL and Syrian Government responsible for use of chemical weapons, UN Security Council told

Nov 08, 2017, at 05:55 pm

New York, Nov 8(Just Earth News): The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) was responsible for using sulfur mustard in a September 2016 attack in Umm Hawsh and the Syrian Government was accountable for the release of sarin in an April 2017 attack in Khan Shaykhun, the head of a Security Council-mandated investigation said on Tuesday.    

UN report concludes ISIL committed ‘international crimes’ during Mosul battle

Nov 03, 2017, at 04:44 am

New York, Nov 2(Just Earth News): The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) perpetrated serious and systematic violations in Iraq that amount to “international crimes” during the nine-month battle for Mosul between the terrorist group and Iraqi Government forces, a United Nations report has concluded.  

Justice vital to help Iraqi victims of ISIL's sexual violence rebuild lives – UN report

Aug 23, 2017, at 04:20 am

New York, Aug 22(Just Earth News): The Iraqi Government must ensure that the thousands of women and girls who survived sexual violence by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) terrorist fighters receive care, protection and justice, and that children born because of such violence do not face a life of discrimination and abuse, a United Nations report published on Tuesdaysays.

ISIL's 'genocide' against Yazidis is ongoing, UN rights panel says, calling for international action

Aug 04, 2017, at 09:46 am

New York, Aug 4(Just Earth News): Marking three years since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) attacked the Yazidis in Syria, a United Nations-mandated inquiry has called for justice and rescue plans.

Iraq: Citing 'numbing' extent of civilian suffering caused by ISIL, UN rights chief urges focus on victims' rights

Nov 12, 2016, at 02:43 am

New York, Nov 11 (Just Earth News): As mass graves and further evidence of sexual exploitation of women and girls, torture and killings, child recruitment and other grave human rights abuses committed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) extremists in Iraq come to light, the top United Nations human rights official has called for immediate action to ensure that the rights and the needs of victims and survivors are met – including the need for justice, truth and reconciliation.

ISIL moving ‘trucks full of abducted civilians’ to Mosul as shields against airstrikes – UN warns

Nov 05, 2016, at 04:45 am

New York, Nov 4 (Just Earth News): The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday warned that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) fighters have taken some 1,600 civilians to Mosul city in an attempt to shield themselves from airstrikes, and that nearly 400 women from Kurdish, Yezidi or Shi’a Muslim communities in Tal Afar are now being held captive.

ISIL’s ‘scorched earth policy’ creating environmental and health havoc in Mosul, warns UN

Oct 28, 2016, at 01:43 pm

New York, Oct 28 (Just Earth News): Environmental pollution is adding “complexity and danger” to the humanitarian crisis sparked by the military offensive in Mosul, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Thursday, warning that fumes from burning stockpiles of sulphur dioxide, and oil wells that have been set ablaze, have led to further suffering for civilians in northern Iraq.

Senior ISIL leader killed in coalition strike

Sep 17, 2016, at 01:49 pm

Washington, Sept 17 (IBNS): A Sept. 7 coalition precision strike near Raqqah, Syria, targeted and killed "Dr. Wa'il," also known as Wa'il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, one of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's most-senior leaders, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement issued on Friday.

New UN report lays bare widespread ISIL ‘atrocities’ committed against Yazidis in Iraq

Aug 19, 2016, at 01:31 pm

New York, Aug 19 (Just Earth News): A new United Nations report lays bare the widespread and systematic manner in which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, Da’esh) has committed “terrible atrocities” against the Yezidi and other ethnic and religious communities, the UN envoy for Iraq said on Thursday, calling for the perpetrators to be fully and properly held to account.

Syria: ISIL’s genocide of Yazidis ‘ongoing,’ UN inquiry warns

Aug 04, 2016, at 03:47 am

New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): A United Nations-mandated inquiry on human rights in Syria on Wednesday called for an end to the genocide and other crimes committed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) against the Yazidis, recommending that the UN Security Council refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or an ad hoc tribunal.

Iraq: security reform, State control of armed groups priorities at ‘critical junction,’ UN envoy says

Jul 16, 2016, at 12:51 pm

New York, July 16 (Just Earth News): Recent victories against ISIL show that Iraqis are capable of defeating the extremist group, but sustainable peace and security in Iraq can only be achieved through historic reconciliation, the United Nations envoy for the country on Friday said, calling also on the international community for greater support for Iraq and its people.

Iraq: UN condemns terrorist attack in Baghdad, warning of 'avenge' by ISIL

Jul 04, 2016, at 03:04 pm

New York, July 4 (Just Earth News):United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terrorist bombing in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Sunday that reportedly killed more than 100 people in a busy shopping street – an attack which the top UN official in that country described as an “avenge by the terrorists of Da'esh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront.”

ISIL will lose more of its occupied territory: Obama

Jun 15, 2016, at 03:36 am

Washington, June 14 (IBNS) US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said militant group ISIL has lost nearly half of the populated territory it once controlled in Iraq and will continue to loose more.

Syria: UN experts urge protection of civilians amid ISIL offensives in country’s north

Jun 02, 2016, at 03:30 pm

New York, June 2 (Just Earth News): Two United Nations human rights experts on Wednesday urged immediate protection for thousands of civilians caught up in offensives by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) in the Aleppo region of northern Syria.

ISIL 'losing appeal' in Iraq, but threat should not be underestimated – UN envoy

Feb 17, 2016, at 03:29 pm

New York, Feb 17 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Iraq has been steadily gaining ground against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh), which is gradually losing its appeal to the disenfranchised population, the United Nations envoy for that country told the Security Council today, as he also warned that its threat should not be underestimated.

'Unity and action' needed to counter expanding threat from ISIL, Security Council told

Feb 10, 2016, at 03:32 pm

New York, Feb 10 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Given the ability of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to adapt quickly to new circumstances and the steady stream of foreign fighters joining the group's ranks, United Nations Member States must mount a strategic response that includes addressing the underlying political and socio-economic causes of conflicts, particularly in Syria and Libya, the top UN political official told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Security Council hears briefing on Turkish troop deployment in northern Iraq

Dec 19, 2015, at 03:24 pm

New York, Dec 19 (Just Earth News/IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed the hope that the governments of Iraq and Turkey will exercise restraint, including in their public statements, and intensify their bilateral discussions to diffuse tensions after Turkish troop deployment in northern Iraq earlier this month to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Security Council was told in a briefing this evening.

In ISIL-controlled territory, 8 million civilians living in ‘state of fear’: UN expert

Aug 01, 2015, at 02:21 pm

New York, Aug 1 (IBNS): The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has engaged in widespread and systematic human rights violations of the most serious kinds in Syria and Iraq, brutally forcing some 8 million people to “assimilate, flee or face death,” according to a United Nations expert.

ISIL unlawful 'shari'a courts' meting out 'monstrous’ punishments, UN warns

Jan 21, 2015, at 04:15 pm

New York, Jan 21 (IBNS): The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday confirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has established unlawful, so-called 'shari'a courts’ in the territory under its control that have been carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments against men, women and children.