Iraq and Syria’s deadly 2014

Neighboring countries Iraq and Syria both suffered a devastating number of dead from violence and war in 2014.

It was Iraq’s deadliest year since 2007, according to the United Nations, with at least 12,282 civilians left dead from conflict.

Meanwhile, the war in Syria killed 33,278 civilians and over 76,000 total in 2014, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday.

Both countries have seen renewed surges of violence since the emergence of the Islamic State Group in early 2014. They plan to take over much of the region, starting with Iraq and Syria, in order to form a Caliphate.

Syria has been embroiled in civil war since 2011, when rebel groups began trying to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad, a conflict which conservative figures estimate has killed 191,000 people so far.

Fighting in Iraq is similarly split between the government forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and militia groups, tribal forces and Kurdish Peshmerga.

Islamic State fighters control roughly a third of Iraq, while the army, and Shi’ite and Kurdish militia, try to retake control.

The U.S.-led coalition, under codename operation “Inherent Resolve,” launched seven air strikes in Syria and three in Iraq Wednesday against Islamic State militants.

The coalition plan to train and equip “moderate” rebel groups to fight the Islamic State group on the ground, has been widely criticized, as U.S. funding in this way is thought to have strengthened a fledgling Islamic State group prior to its 2014 aggressive advances.