HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Human Wrongs Watch

“While the US and the Iraqi government insist that security gains have been made in recent years, UN and independent analysts characterize the situation as having stabilized at an unacceptably high level of violence, albeit now concentrated in more specific areas.”

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN – Iraqi Security Forces are often the target of attacks

Baghdad, (IRIN*) – Assessments of security trends in Iraq vary wildly depending on who you speak to, how you count the statistics, and which period of time you study. But one thing is clear: bomb blasts, targeted killings or improvised explosive devices are still a daily occurrence in Iraq.

Last week’s coordinated attacks – leaving more than 100 people dead – set a record for the highest number of deaths in a single day in more than two years, displaying the continued ability of insurgent groups to strike. A double bombing in the capital on 31 July brought July’s death toll to 245, according to a count by Associated Press.

Human Wrongs Watch

As former UN secretary general Kofi Annan stepped down on 2 August as Joint UN-Arab League Special Envoy, France announced that the Security Council will consider this month the plight of millions of Syrians in need of humanitarian aid, and that the UN mission will likely disappear, the UN reports.

**The new Za’atri camp opened by Jordan for Syrian refugees can eventually host up to 113,000 people. Photo: UNHCR/A.McDonnell