"Those being held are predominantly women and children and come primarily from the Yezidi community, but a number are also from other ethnic and religious minority communities," said the report, issued jointly by the U.N.'s Assistance Mission for Iraq and the global body's human rights office. It said the United Nations had information about the murder of child soldiers and had verified reports suggesting between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted for military and religious training.  BAGHDAD -- A U.N. report released Tuesday says at least 18,802 civilians in Iraq were killed and another 36,245 wounded between Jan. 1, 2014 and Oct. 31, 2015. The reports calls the civilian death toll "staggering" and details killings by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) including by shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning alive and throwing people off of buildings. The militant group, which also controls large parts of neighboring Syria, has committed widespread abuses that may "in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," the report said. But U.N. envoy Jan Kubis said in a statement that "despite their steady losses to pro-government forces, the scourge of ISIS continues to kill, maim and displace Iraqi civilians in the thousands and to cause untold suffering." "Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq," U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement. ISIS swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014 plunging the country into its worst political and security crisis since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011.
– The United Nations released some disturbing numbers Tuesday related to ISIS activity in Iraq, noting that its actions may "amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide," CBS News reports. In the period from Jan. 1, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2015, more than 18,800 civilians were killed by the militant group, and nearly 36,250 were wounded. And the death toll, which the UN calls "staggering," was brought about via beheadings, shootings, burning victims alive, throwing them off buildings, and even bulldozing. But there are others suffering a different horrible fate: Per the report by the UN's Assistance Mission for Iraq and its human rights division, about 3,500 Iraqis are being held as slaves. "Those being held are predominantly women and children and come primarily from the Yezidi community, but a number are also from other ethnic and religious minority communities," the report reads. The report notes that verified information suggests between 800 and 900 Iraqi children in Mosul alone had been snatched for religious indoctrination and to be incorporated into ISIS' military ranks, Business Insider reports. Some of those child soldiers were murdered when they tried to run from fighting in Anbar province, Fox News notes. Others in Iraq who haven't been targeted through outright violence have perished from hunger, thirst, or lack of medical care. "Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq," the UN's human rights chief said in a statement, per Business Insider. (An ISIS fatwa last year instructed members to "be kind" to their sex slaves.)