Iraqi deaths hit record in July

Iraqi deaths hit record in July
Civilian toll of 3,438 nearly twice January's
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 16, 2006

BAGHDAD -- July appears to have been the deadliest month of the war for Iraqi civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, reinforcing criticism that the Baghdad security plan started in June by the new Iraqi government has failed.

An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed each day in July, according to the figures. The total number of civilian deaths that month, 3,438, is a 9 percent increase over the tally in June and nearly double the toll of January, The New York Times reported.

The rising numbers indicate that sectarian violence is spiraling out of control, and seemed to bolster an assertion many senior Iraqi officials and American military analysts have been making in recent months: The country is already embroiled in a civil war, not just slipping into one, and the American-led forces are caught between Sunni Arab guerrillas and Shiite militias.

The numbers also provide the most definitive evidence yet that the Baghdad security plan started by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on June 14 has not quelled the violence. The plan, much touted by top Iraqi and American officials at the time, relied on setting up more Iraqi-run checkpoints. Those officials have since acknowledged the plan has fallen far short of its aims, forcing the American military to add thousands of soldiers to the capital in August and to back away from proposals for a withdrawal of some troops by year's end.

The Baghdad morgue reported receiving 1,855 bodies in July, more than half of the total deaths recorded in the country. The morgue tally for July was an 18 percent increase over June.

The U.S. ambassador said in an interview last week that Iraq's political leaders have failed to fully use their influence to rein in the soaring violence, and that people associated with the government are stoking the flames of sectarian hatred.

"I think the time has come for these leaders to take responsibility with regards to sectarian violence, to the security of Baghdad at the present time," the ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said.

When the tally for civilian deaths in July is added to the Iraqi government numbers for earlier months obtained by the United Nations, the total indicates that at least 17,776 Iraqi civilians died violently in the first seven months of this year, or an average of 2,539 per month.

Adding to the violence Tuesday, a suicide bombing in the north and street battles hundreds of miles away in a Shiite holy city in the south claimed 16 lives.

Nine people died in the suicide attack outside the regional party headquarters of Iraq's president in the northern city of Mosul; seven were killed in fighting between Iraqi forces and followers of an anti-American cleric in Karbala.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, the U.S. military said car bombs triggered deadly explosions in a Shiite neighborhood Sunday, backing away from assertions that the blasts were caused by a gas leak.

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War's casualties

While the U.S. military death toll in the Iraq war has been carefully tracked (at least 2,601, as of Tuesday), the Iraqi toll may never be known. In June, the Los Angeles Times used a variety of figures to conclude that at least 50,000 Iraqi fighters and civilians had been killed. This year, numbers from the Iraqi Health Ministry and Baghdad morgue have been used to compile these monthly figures on violent deaths of civilians:

January: 1,778

February: 2,165

March: 2,378

April: 2,284

May: 2,669

June: 3,149

July: 3,438

--Tribune news services