Civilian Deaths in Iraq up in August

1 September 2007

BAGHDAD - At least 1,771 civilians were killed in Iraq in August, up seven percent on the previous month, according to figures compiled by three Iraqi ministries and seen by AFP.

August’s toll is significantly higher than the number for February, when the United States launched a “surge” during which Baghdad and its surrounds were flooded with 28,500 extra troops in a bid to stem sectarian bloodletting.

In that month, 1,626 civilians were killed according to the figures from the health, interior and defence ministries.

The toll hit a high of 1,951 in May but dipped in June to 1,241, although it began climbing again in July, when 1,652 civilians were recorded killed.

Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s government no longer issues official casualty statistics and has refused to provide figures to UN human rights monitors, who can no longer confirm the reports.

US officials claim that sectarian killings have gone down in and around Baghdad as thousands of US-led troops press assaults on Al Qaeda strongholds in the country.

But many insurgents appear to have fled ahead of the security operations, and have continued to launch spectacular bomb attacks in more remote regions of the country.

On August 14, in the worst bomb attack since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, insurgents detonated a series of truck bombs targeting a minority religious sect in northern Iraq and killed more than 400 people.

Militants continue to launch near-daily attacks on the country’s fledgling security forces, killing 85 police and soldiers in August, the data from the ministries said.