A total of 1,420 Iraqis were killed, and 1,370 others were injured in terrorist attacks and violence in August, according to a statement issued on Monday by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

The statement said that 1,265 civilians, including 77 civilian policemen, and 155 Iraqi security forces personnel were killed, while 1,198 civilians, including 105 civilian policemen, were wounded. An additional 172 security members were wounded in terrorist and violent acts in August.

UNAMI excluded the casualties in Anbar province where fierce clashes flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside Ramadi in late December last year.

However, the statement obtained information from the Health Directorate in Anbar province, saying that the total civilian casualties up to Aug. 31 in the provincial capital city of Ramadi and the city of Fallujah was 268 killed and 796 injured. Information on casualties in Anbar's other areas is not available.

UN envoy and UNAMI chief Nickolay Mladenov voiced concerns about worsening violence that displaced and killed hundreds of thousands of people by the militant groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), which later renamed itself as the Islamic State.

"In August alone the UN estimates that 600,000 people have been displaced while thousands continue to be targeted and killed by ISIL and associated armed groups simply on account of their ethnic or religious background," the statement quoted Mladenov as saying.

"The true cost of this human tragedy is staggering," he said.

"Despite the difficult conditions, urgent measures are being taken by the Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the international community to alleviate the suffering of those fleeing the violence and to secure the return of displaced people to their places of origin in safety and dignity," Mladenov added.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in years. Terrorism and violence have killed 5,576 civilians in Iraq in the first half of this year, with 11,666 more wounded, according to a recent UN report. Endi

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