UN Chief Slams 'Brutal' ISIL Killings in Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday slammed "brutal killings of civilians" by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq, saying the radical group was tearing apart whole communities.
The ISIL have taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and have declared a "caliphate" in the territory they control straddling the two countries.
The UN human rights chief earlier this week accused the group of "ethnic and religious cleansing" in Iraq, saying their reign of terror against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims involved targeted killings, forced conversions and abductions, AFP reported.
Ban added his voice to the growing concerns, telling a United Nations conference on the Indonesian resort island of Bali: "All major faiths value peace and tolerance."
"That is why I am especially outraged by the reports from Iraq of brutal killings of civilians by the ISIL," he added.
"Whole communities that had lived for generations in northern Iraq are being forced to flee or face death just for their religious beliefs."
Ban said that communities should not be threatened simply because of "who they are and what they believe".
In her comments earlier this week, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said that persecution of minority groups in Iraq by the ISIL amounted to crimes against against humanity.
