The United Nations has revealed details of the “staggering civilian death toll in Iraq” over the past two years and estimated some 3500 Iraqis continue to be held captive as “slaves”, since the Islamic State’s insurgency flared at the beginning of 2014. In a new report this week, the UN said the jihadists’ captives included many women and girls from the persecuted Yazidi sect who have been abducted and forced into sexual slavery. The report found nearly 19,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the last two years, while some 3.2 million Iraqis have been displaced.

Compiled jointly by the UN mission in Iraq and its Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the report details myriad abuses and atrocities that have ravaged the country in recent years. From January 1, 2014, to the end of last October, the world body recorded at least 55,047 civilian casualties in Iraq: 18,802 killed and 36,245 wounded.

Since the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq has endured waves of deadly turmoil. The recent havoc unleashed by the Islamic State, as well as the heavy-handed actions of a constellation of pro-government militias and factions, have traumatised countless Iraqis and destabilised the state.

The Sunni Islamists, who claim responsibility for suicide bombings in Baghdad against Shia mosques and markets, should face prosecution for international crimes, said Francesco Motta, director of the U.N. human rights office in Iraq.

Between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted for military and religious training, the report said.

• Stagger means astonish or deeply shock.
• Insurgency means rebellion against authority
• Captive means a person who has been taken prisoner
• Abducted means take (someone) away illegally by force or deception; kidnap.
• Atrocity means an extremely wicked or cruel act.
• Casualty means a person killed or injured in a war or accident.
• Traumatize means subject to lasting shock as a result of a disturbing experience