Military solution not enough to defeat IS: UN envoy

Says govt needs to urgently continue taking measures to restore civilian responsibility for security and the rule of law in the liberated areas

UN Special Representative for Iraq Jan Kubis has said that a military solution alone will not be enough to defeat the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group in Iraq, adding that the government needs to restore civilian responsibility for security.

While briefing the Security Council on Thursday, Kubis, who is also head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said he heard this message from Iraqi political representatives and suggested the government of Iraq must restore the confidence of disaffected communities that they will assume a share in the country's ability to ensure their protection from violence.

"As a priority, the government needs to urgently continue taking measures to restore civilian responsibility for security and the rule of law in the liberated areas," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

The security situation in the country drastically deteriorated in the middle of last year when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of militants from the IS.

The militants took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, also briefed the Council on the humanitarian situation in Iraq, saying that the number of Iraqis requesting humanitarian assistance has grown to more than 8.2 million people, an increase of three million people in the past five months.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly seven million people, or 20 percent of the country's population, are unable to access essential health services, water and sanitation services due to the country's conflict.

Kubis stressed the international community's assistance for Iraq and its people through "continuous and long-term adequate political, financial, and material support" remain critical if the country was to turn its opportunities into reality.