The scope of the toll the six-week old battle for Mosul has taken on Iraqi forces emerged on Friday, with UN figures showing that around 2,000 had been killed in fighting last month alone.
While high casualty tolls were expected for what has been Iraq’s toughest battle against the Islamic State group to date, few figures had been released.
The United Nations’ mission in Iraq released monthly casualty figures for November that showed 1,959 members of the Iraqi forces were killed just last month and 450 others wounded.
The UN toll includes members of the army, police engaged in combat, the Kurdish peshmerga, interior ministry forces and pro-government paramilitaries.
The UN statement also said at least 926 civilians were killed, bringing to 2,885 the number of Iraqis killed in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict last month.