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35,000 Iraq civilians died in 2006, UN says
Associated Press
Tuesday January 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The UN today said almost 35,000 civilians were killed in Iraq last year - a sharp increase on the numbers previously reported by the Iraqi government.
Gianni Magazzeni, the chief of the UN assistance mission for Iraq, said 34,452 civilians were killed and 36,685 wounded last year.
Iraqi government figures, issued in early January, put last year's civilian death toll at 12,357.
When asked about the difference, Mr Magazzeni said the UN figures had been compiled from information obtained through the Iraqi health ministry, hospitals across the country and the Medico-Legal Institute in the capital, Baghdad.
"Without significant progress in the rule of law, sectarian violence will continue indefinitely and eventually spiral out of control," he warned.
Mr Magazzeni said 6,376 civilians were killed in violence in November and December. Of those, 4,731 died in Baghdad, most from gunshot wounds. He said the figure was a slight decrease from the previous two month period.
The mission's latest bimonthly report also said casualty figures from some areas had not yet been included in the December total. |
