IRAQ: The increase in suicide bombings which killed at least 160 people and wounded 400 since last week came soon after US and Iraqi officials declared that the number of attacks had fallen due to successful military operations against insurgents in Baghdad and the north.
The surge also coincided with the publication of official figures for Iraqi fatalities. The ministry of interior said that 8,175 Iraqis had been killed by insurgents between August 2004 and May 2005. This figure does not include Iraqis living in the northern Kurdish areas or those who died during US and Iraqi military operations, such as the 1,500 who lost their lives during the assault on Falluja last November.
According to the Iraqi press, 100 unidentified bodies, some victims of criminals, brought to Iraqi hospitals every week are also excluded from official tallies.
Although the official toll of civilian deaths averages 800 a month or 200 a week for the 10-month period, this does not give a clear picture of the situation because both US and Iraqi officials admit that the number of attacks has risen since the Shia-dominated government took office at the end of April.
Another set of figures for October 2004 to April 2005 gives a breakdown of deaths by location, showing that 32 per cent of the 3,853 fatalities recorded by local hospitals were in Baghdad, the second-highest number was in Anbar province, the seat of the insurgency, and the third, Najaf, the Shia holy city.
Shias are increasingly being targeted. On July 13th, 24 children died when a bomber detonated his vehicle near US troops handing out candy in a Shia neighbourhood and Saturday night's bombing which killed more than 90 was outside a Shia mosque. The Shia religious establishment in Najaf, also alarmed at the murder of 25 clerics, warned that attacks on Shias risked civil conflict. The defence ministry says that 275 soldiers and 620 policemen died in clashes with insurgents, assassinations and bombings between January 1st and the end of June. The number of insurgents reported killed during this period is 781.
The compilation of Iraqi casualties is highly politicised. Since invading the country in March 2003, the US has refused to engage in "body counts". During 2003 the health ministry made tallies based on hospital records but since numbers of fatalities began to rise last year, officials have tried to play down the death toll.
In June, interior minister Bayan Jabr said 12,000 Iraqis had been killed by insurgents. Iraq Body Count, an internet website, says that 22,838-25,869 Iraqis have died, 7,350 during the invasion. But an article last year in British medical journal the Lancet put fatalities at 100,000 for the war and its aftermath.
