|
Civilians bearing brunt of Iraq violence
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-03 08:50
Insurgency-related violence last year killed more than twice as many Iraqi
civilians 锟斤拷 4,024 people 锟斤拷 as Iraqi soldiers and police, according to government
figures obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
And the civilian death count in the first two months of this year already
stands at more than one-quarter of last year's total 锟斤拷 due in part to sectarian
violence triggered by the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine and car bombings in
Shiite neighborhoods around Baghdad.
An Iraqi,left,
mourns his policeman brother who was shot dead by unknown gunmen along
with three other colleagues, in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles)
northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 2, 2006. A bomb ripped through
a vegetable market in a Shiite section of Baghdad and a senior Sunni
leader escaped assassination as another 36 people were killed Thursday in
a surge of violence that has pushed Iraq closer than ever to sectarian
civil war. [AP] |
The large number of civilian deaths 锟斤拷 many in Baghdad, where 25 percent of
the population lives 锟斤拷 has created a climate of fear where parents are afraid to
send their children to school, women spend their days huddled inside their
homes, and husbands send wives and children abroad.
Figures compiled by the Health Ministry put the civilian death toll for 2005
at 4,024. The ministry's civilian death count for the first two months of this
year is 1,093.
Death tolls for the police and army are compiled by the ministries of
Interior and Defense. Their figures show that 1,695 police and soldiers were
killed last year. Most of the victims 锟斤拷 1,222 锟斤拷 were from the ranks of the
police.
That pattern has continued through January and February of this year 锟斤拷 when
155 policemen and 44 soldiers died. Iraqi soldiers as a rule have better body
armor and make better use of armored vehicles. Many Iraqi police patrol the
dangerous streets of Baghdad and other cities in cars and pickup trucks without
armor.
There is no way to verify the figures independently. In a dangerous country
as large as California, journalists rely on figures provided by local police,
hospitals and the Interior Ministry.
|
