UN: Iraq is Starting to Push Back Extremists

Local Editor

The new Iraqi government's strategy of enlisting Kurds and local tribes in the fight against extremists is yielding results, the UN envoy for Iraq told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has made it a priority to pay salaries, arm and train fighters from local tribes and communities, and provide legal guarantees for volunteers, envoy Nickolay Mladenov said.

"This strategy is bearing fruit," Mladenov told the 15-member council.

"Communities are beginning to push back," he added.

The massacre by so-called "Daesh" ["ISIL"] militants of 322 members of the Albu Nimr tribe spurred cooperation with the government in its campaign to defeat the extremists, he further said.

At least 10,000 civilians have been killed and almost 20,000 injured in Iraq this year [2014], while nearly 1.9 million people have been displaced, Mladenov said.

The "Daesh" extremists currently control large swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq. They have committed terrible atrocities in both countries, including mass executions, murders and beheadings.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team