talk.politics.misc

Iraq body count running at double pace

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - This year's . troop buildup has succeeded in bringing
violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from
sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace
from a year ago.


The figures are considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual
numbers are likely higher, as many killings go unreported or
uncounted. Insurgent deaths are not a part of the Iraqi count.

The findings include:

=B7 Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths
throughout the country compared with last year - an average daily toll
of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year.

=B7 Nearly 1,000 more people have been killed in violence across Iraq in
the first eight months of this year than in all of 2006. So far this
year, about 14,800 people have died in war-related attacks and
sectarian murders. AP reporting accounted for 13,811 deaths in 2006.
The United Nations and other sources placed the 2006 toll far higher.

=B7 Baghdad has gone from representing 76 percent of all civilian and
police war-related deaths in Iraq in January to 52 percent in July,
bringing it back to the same spot it was roughly a year ago.

_According to the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, the number of
displaced Iraqis has more than doubled since the start of the year,
from 447,337 on Jan. 1 to million on July 31.

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