Lest we forget--

[spindrifter]

UN report shows spike in civilian deaths in Iraq

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, July 20, 2006

Nearly 6,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in May and June, while the total number of Iraqi civilians killed since the 2003 invasion has reached 50,000, according to a United Nations human rights report issued late Tuesday.

According to the report, between May 1 and June 30, a total of 5,818 civilians were reported killed and at least 5,762 wounded in all manner of violent incidents. The report characterized the figures as part of an “upward trend” in deaths.

The report compiled figures from the Iraqi Ministry of Health and the Baghdad Morgue, and provides a much higher figure than that previously estimated by aid groups and governments. In December, President Bush provided the only official estimate by the U.S. government, saying that 30,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed since the U.S. invasion.

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“The Ministry further indicated that the number of deaths is probably underreported,” the report reads.

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=38744§ion=104