UN: 400,000 displaced this year in Iraq violence
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations envoy to Iraq says about 400,000 people have been displaced this year by ongoing violence in western Iraq, and the U.N. Security Council is expressing "grave concern" about recent developments particularly in Ramadi and Fallujah.
Nickolay Mladenov also warned the council on Thursday that without more funding, the U.N. "very soon will be unable to continue its humanitarian assistance to those fleeing the fighting in Anbar."
Al-Qaida-inspired militants took control of Fallujah, a main city in western, Sunni-dominated Anbar province, in December.
Between the tensions among the country's communities and the conflict in neighboring Syria feeding sectarian tensions, "all this makes for a fragile and explosive combination," Mladenov said.
He says the security threat in Anbar is starting to spread elsewhere in Iraq.
