Iraq suicide bomb toll revealed

Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed 12,000 civilians and 200 coalition soldiers since war began, study finds Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed at least 12,000 civilians and 200 coalition soldiers, according to a study. The research paper , by Dr Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks of King’s College London, the London-based Iraq Body Count and others, describes suicide bombs in Iraq as “a major public health problem”, killing significantly more civilians than soldiers. It is published as part of a Lancet series on the health consequences of 9/11. Among the reasons for the high civilian death toll is the difficulty of getting victims to hospital quickly enough for emergency treatment. The study finds children are more likely to die than adults if they are injured in a suicide bombing. Using data amassed by the Iraq Body Count, which collects verified reports of deaths and injuries, as well as other data on military deaths, the authors say more than 30,000 Iraqi civilians were injured by suicide bombs between 20 March 20 2003 and 31 December 2010, and 12,284 Iraqi civilians were killed in more than 1,000 suicide bombings. These amounted to 10% of civilian deaths and 25% of civilian injuries from armed violence in that period, they say. About a third of the Iraqi fatalities (3,963) were demographically identifiable. Of those, 75% were men, 11% were women and 14% were children. An Iraqi child died in at least 159 (16%) of the 1,003 suicide bombings and a woman or child in at least 211 (21%). In the same period, 200 coalition soldiers were killed in suicide attacks. Of those, 175 were from the US in 76 attacks, 16 were Italian in one attack, three were British in one bombing and four Bulgarians and two Thai soldiers died in one incident. “Suicide bombers in Iraq use suicide bombs strategically as cost-effective, precise, highly destructive weapons,” say the authors. The Iraqi civilian population suffers substantially because it is “a primary chosen target of suicide bombers and those who deploy them”. Iraq Middle East Global terrorism Sarah Boseley guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 1, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.