More than 12,000 killed in Iraq in 2014

(Vatican Radio/Reuters) The United Nations says violence in Iraq in 2014 killed  at least 12,282 civilians, making it the deadliest year since the sectarian bloodshed of 2006-07.

In a statement Friday, the U.N. said the majority of the deaths - nearly 8,500 - occurred during the second half of the year following the expansion of the Sunni Muslim Islamic State insurgency in June out of Anbar province leading to widespread clashes with security forces.

Islamic State fighters still control roughly a third of Iraq. The army and Shi'ite and Kurdish militia continue to battle the insurgents.

The figures show that violence has not abated since 2013 when 7,818 civilians were killed, the U.N. said. The bloodshed remains below the levels seen in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian Shi'ite-Sunni killings reached their peak