(VOVworld)- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday to take drastic steps to force the Islamic State extremist group to stop its atrocities and kidnappings.
He said more than 900 people were killed by the Islamic State in July alone, while tens of thousands of Christians and other minorities had been forced to flee while many others have been executed or kidnapped. The UN envoy urged Iraqis to quickly elect a government to lead them out of the crisis. However, he admitted that it’s not easy for Baghdad to establish a government while facing risks that put the Iraqi government on the verge of collapse. The Islamic State was listed as a terrorist group by UN and is the target of many international sanctions. In Washington, the Obama administration tried to explain to Congressmen about the Iraqi situation. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk admitted that Washington was surprised as Iraqi government forces had been quickly dispersed by the Islamic State rebels and Sunni insurgents.