By IRNA,
London : While 2010’s civilian death toll in Iraq is lowest since war began, stark truth is that this year’s toll is higher, by at least 3,976 new deaths, than it was 12 months ago, according to Iraq Body Count (IBC).
“After nearly 8 years, the security crisis in Iraq remains notable for its sheer relentlessness,” IBC said in its latest report monitoring Iraqi death from violence, which was obtained by IRNA.
Using evidence of deaths extracted from some 8,250 distinct reports by 143 sources, covering 1,601 incidents, the UK-based website verifiably recorded that 3,976 Iraqi civilians died this year compared to 4,680 in 2009.
The sombre observation is that 2010’s data shows “the smallest year-on-year reduction (proportionally as well as in absolute terms) since violence levels began to reduce from late 2007 onwards,” it said.
The 15 percent reduction in deaths from violence this year compared to a 50 percent fall between 2008 and 2009 and 63 percent comparing 2008 to 2007.
“While any reduction in the violence rate is welcome, the slowdown in reductions is indicative of an impassable minimum that may have been reached,” IBC said.
It recorded 2010 averaged nearly two explosions a day by non-state forces that caused civilian deaths and said the attacks, which were responsible for two-thirds of all Iraqi civilian killings, can happen almost anywhere, occurring in 13 of Iraq’s 18 governorates.
Taken as a whole and seen in the context of immediately preceding years, IBC said that the latest data suggested “a persistent low-level conflict in Iraq that will continue to kill civilians at a similar rate for years to come.”
The within-year trend showed more hopeful signs following the US “end of combat mission” in August when there was an immediate halving in the number of civilian deaths in September and lowered levels continuing into the winter months.
Due to the difficulty of reliably identifying many of the perpetrator groups behind civilian deaths in Iraq’s post-invasion armed conflict, meant that with the exception of uniformed forces, most of the recorded deaths were by the unknown agents.
But it remained apparent that “anti-occupation” activity continues to play a central part in the deaths of Iraqi civilians, IBC said, pointing out that police forces members account for 1,047 of 26.3 per cent of the deaths in 2010.
IBC was established as the most authoritative and comprehensive monitor of Iraqi deaths after both the US and UK refused to carry out any verifiable account of the civilian casualties of the war.
Altogether it has documented 108,391 deaths so far since 2003, it suggested that with the release and publication by WikiLeaks of the ‘Iraq War Logs’ there could be another 15,000 civilian deaths (including 3,000 ordinary police) beyond the previously known toll.