UN envoy hails liberation of Iraqi town from IS terrorists

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The UN secretary-general’s special representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, welcomed the recent victories of the Iraqi security forces in liberating the town of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and associated armed groups, a UN spokesman told reporters here Wednesday.

Calling it “a victory for all the Iraqi people”, Kubis said the United Nations stands ready to assist the provincial and national authorities in responding to the needs of the thousands of displaced, according to deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq at a daily news briefing here.

The top UN official in Iraq said civilians’ safety and security must be protected in line with fundamental human rights principles and humanitarian law, while calling on the government to ensure that all Tikrit inhabitants who fled from ISIL can safely return to their homes and provide without delay the much needed humanitarian assistance. /End/