[JURIST] According to casualty figures released on Monday by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq [official website], at least 1,232 Iraqis were killed in November as a result of acts of terrorism and violence, while 2,434 were wounded. Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov commented [press release] on the figures:

I take this opportunity to continue encouraging the Iraqi political, religious and social leaders to act decisively to rise above their differences in order to resolve the pending political, social and economic problems, and restore confidence among Iraq’s communities, more particularly those disaffected groups, as part of consolidating the democratic process.

Nearly 12,000 Iraqis have been killed and 22,000 injured since the beginning of 2014.

Earlier this month UN officials warned [JURIST report] the world of the growing crisis of Islamic State (IS) [BBC backgrounder; JURIST JURIST backgrounder] in Iraq and urged the international community to take action in helping the Iraqi government transition towards democracy. IS has been causing increasing international alarm over its escalating human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in early 2013. In October UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic [official website] expressed grave concerns [JURIST report] about escalating violence against civilians.