Everyday citizens who were merely trying to get to work, visit a market or travel with family became the victims of an angry insurgency in Iraq in 2014. Head of the United Nations political mission in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, released a statement on Thursday regarding the violence against innocent civilians. More than 12,000 civilians were killed in 2014 - a majority of that number is from the expansion of the Islamic State insurgency that increased this past summer. The increased violence has marked it the deadliest year in Iraq since 2006-2007, sparking demands from the international community to stop the bloodshed.
Mladenov said he hoped 2015 will be the year “political actors in Iraq” come together to find peaceful solutions to the problems plaguing the nation.
This past summer saw the decline of security in Iraq when violence exploded between Iraq police and military forces against the Islamic State radicals. The militants still control several portions of the nation, including Mosul and several other territories. Many Iraq security forces fled to their safety, abandoning their posts. The deaths stemmed from civilians running from their homes or just trying to live. Thousands of those killed were small children and teens.
The numbers hold a grim prospect for 2015, especially as American forces are being led back into the country, this time to prepare for battle against the Islamic State extremists.
For many military members and their families, they presumed the end was near if not done, and a majority did not think they would step foot back in the Middle East during their lifetime, but that ugly reality has reared its head.
More than 180 soldiers reside at the Taji base, and 2015 brings an expected increase to the number. The Obama administration has worked with Iraq government officials to pledge military assistance to train their security forces by providing basic training and counter-attack strategies. Billions of dollars has flowed into the country with the expenditures of personnel and equipment.
Iraq government officials are aiming to reduce and eliminate the Islamic State terrorist group, and they are reaching out to the U.S. to reduce the civilian deaths going forward into the new year.