CCTV9英语新闻：伊拉克2013年12月恐怖袭击暴力冲突致759人死亡

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq says a total of 759 Iraqis were killed in violent attacks in Iraq last month.

In a statement, the UN group said 661 civilians and 98 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in terrorist and violent acts in December. It also said that a total of nearly 9-thousand Iraqis were killed in 2013, including almost 8-thousand civilians, the highest annual death toll in years.

Tensions and violence have been escalating between the country’s Sunni and Shiite communities since late 2012, when Sunnis began protesting against the Shiite-led government. They accuse the government of marginalization, and claim the country’s security forces indiscriminately arrest and torture them.