UN concerned about sectarian fighting in Iraq: ISIL target religious and ethnic communities

alongside the persistent reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant organization “ISIL” and other armed groups carried out acts of murder against members of religious and ethnic communities.

The UN representative said in a statement reported for "Shafaq News", that” the Human Rights Office is monitoring all the parties of conflict and has investigated mass executions and kidnappings carried out against  people of those ethnic and religious communities. Now thousands of people of these groups from Nineveh province, including Karakosh , Tal Afar and Qaratapa and al-Hamdaniya areas are fleeing from their homes.

Mladenov said, " the armed opposition groups and the Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga forces must abide by international law to protect civilians., And the Iraqi government must be sure of its commitment to human rights and international humanitarian law in the course of its efforts to fight terrorism."

"Targeting all civilians must be stopped immediately and urgent measures should taken to ensure the protection of all Iraqis from violence, including religious communities, ethnic and other groups at risk," adding that "some of these acts may amount to crimes against humanity according to international law ,” he added.