Over 2,500 people were killed in Iraq between April and June, according to a UN report released earlier this month warning that the country is on the verge of a civil war. In April, after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cautioned of a return to “sectarian civil war,” UN Envoy Martin Kobler said Iraq was at “crossroads” and appealed for restraint.
Violence has only escalated since. On 22 July scores of security personnel were killed in Mosul, while a few hours later, al-Qa’ida stormed two prisons near Baghdad (Abu-Ghraib and al-Taji) killing around 30 prison officers and freeing hundreds of al-Qa’ida inmates. (CONTINUED - 1118 WORDS)
