At least 1,420 people were killed in Iraq in August, the United Nations said on Monday, as sectarian violence raged in the centre and north of the country.
Another 1,370 Iraqis were wounded and 600,000 people forced to flee, the U.N. added, as Islamic State militants, who have grabbed large areas of territory since June, pushed into land controlled by Kurdish troops and targeted religious minorities.
"Thousands continue to be targeted and killed by ISIL (Islamic State) and associated armed groups simply on account of their ethnic or religious background ... The true cost of this human tragedy is staggering," said the U.N. representative in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov.
The UN said the casualty figures could be far higher, but it could not get indepent verification of reports of hundreds of incidents in areas under Islamic State's control.
Violence killed 1,737 people, mostly civilians, in Iraq in July, and 2,400 in June, the U.N. data showed.
Both Islamist fighters and Iraqi government forces have committed atrocities in the three months of fighting, senior U.N. officials said in Geneva during an emergency debate on the conflict earlier on Monday.
There was "strong evidence" that fighters from Islamic State and linked groups had carried out targeted killings, forced conversions, abductions, sexual abuse and torture, U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri told the session.
Iraqi police have executed detainees while Iraqi soldiers have shelled towns and carried out air strikes killing and injuring many civilians, Pansieri said, opening the meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"Systematic and intentional attacks on civilians may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Individuals, including commanders, are responsible for these acts," she said, referring to crimes committed by both sides.
Pansieri voiced deep concern at persecution of Christians, Yazidis, Shia, Turkmen and other ethnic groups by Islamic State forces that have swept through western and northern Iraq since June, driving 1.2 million Iraqis from their homes.
"The reports we have received reveal acts of inhumanity on an unimaginable scale. I am particularly concerned about the persecution that is taking place," Pansieri said.
The one-day session was called by Iraq with the support of allies including the United States. The 47-member state forum is expected to agree to Baghdad's request to send a team of U.N. experts to investigate crimes committed by Islamic State and others in the conflict.
REUTERS