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UN says 13 killed per day despite Ukrainian ceasefire

Pro-Russian militants ride on a tank taken from Ukrainian forces in the eastern Ukrainian town of Ilovaisk
Pro-Russian militants ride on a tank taken from Ukrainian forces in the eastern Ukrainian town of Ilovaisk

The UN has said fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed an average of 13 people each day in the eight weeks since a ceasefire agreement was signed on 5 September.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said at least 4,317 people have died between mid-April and 18 November.

The UN also said that 9,921 have been wounded in the conflict.

It cited Ukraine's State Emergency Service as saying the number of internally displaced people had increased from 275,489 on 18 September to 466,829 on 19 November.

Meanwhile, a convoy of international monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was shot at by "uniformed personnel" in the east of the country.

The OSCE said a uniformed man on the back of flat-bed cargo truck fired two shots in the direction of their vehicles.

It said the incident happened as they were driving yesterday afternoon near the government-held town of Mariinka, which is 15km west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

"The bullets struck about two metres from the second OSCE vehicle," it said.