NUSA DUA, Indonesia/UN: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday slammed “brutal killings of civilians” by IS rebels in northern Iraq, saying the group was tearing apart whole communities.

The UN human rights chief earlier this week accused the group of “ethnic and religious cleansing” in Iraq, saying their reign of terror against non-Arab ethnic groups involved targeted killings, forced conversions and abductions.

Ban added his voice to the growing concerns, telling a UN conference on the Indonesian resort island of Bali: “All major faiths value peace and tolerance.”

“That is why I am especially outraged by the reports from Iraq of brutal killings of civilians by ISIL,” he added.

“Whole communities that had lived for generations in northern Iraq are being forced to flee or face death just for their religious beliefs.” Ban said that communities should not be threatened simply because of “who they are and what they believe.”

In her comments earlier this week, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said that persecution of minority groups in Iraq by IS amounted to crimes against against humanity.

In another development, a top UN aid official said the IS group is taking violence against civilians in Syria “to a new level,” threatening the cross-border humanitarian aid operations recently approved by the Security Council.

The UN’s deputy humanitarian chief, Kyung-wha Kang, told the council that both the extremists and the Nusra Front are advancing on border crossings with Turkey “and could hinder additional cross-border operations.”