Study: 655,000 Iraqi Civilians Killed Since US-Led Invasion
11 October 2006
Researchers say an estimated 655,000 civilians have died in Iraq since U.S.-led coalition forces invaded the country in March 2003.
The estimate, reported Wednesday by the British medical journal the Lancet, is far higher than ones produced by other groups.
The study says there has been a steady increase in mortality in Iraq since the invasion, with a sharp rise in the last year. It says gunfire remains the most common cause of death, but fatalities from car bombings have also increased every year.
According to the study, more than 600,000 people -- or about 500 per day across the country -- have been killed in violence. The rest died from diseases and other causes.
The study was conducted by a team of Iraqi physicians and US experts at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The team interviewed residents of randomly selected households throughout Iraq.
In 2004, the same group published an estimate of 100,000 deaths in the first 18 months after the U.S-led invasion of Iraq.
And in December of last year, President Bush mentioned 30,000 as the estimated death toll of Iraqi civilians.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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