The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) for another year. In the resolution, the mandate of UNAMI is extended till July 31, 2014 and will be reviewed in 12 months time. In line with this, the 15-member Council reiterated the importance of equal rights for women and children in Iraq. The resolution also stressed that security of UN personnel is essential for UNAMI to carry out its work for the benefit of the people of Iraq and called upon the government of Iraq to continue to provide security and logistical support to the mission.

Violence continues in Iraq (Photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, bomb and gunfire attacks, mainly targeting Iraqi security forces, in the predominantly Sunni areas in Iraq yesterday/ on Wednesday killed 22 and wounded some 64 others, as the country struggles to contain the worst violence since 2008. The deadliest attack in the day occurred in the morning when gunmen attacked a police station with mortar rounds and assault rifles near the northern city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing up to 11 policemen and wounding another.

In Baghdad, four people were killed and 10 wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the evening at a busy marketplace in al- Qahira district in northern the capital.