Operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis as insurgents are, according to statistics compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry and obtained by Knight Ridder.
According to the ministry, the interim Iraqi government recorded 3,487 Iraqi deaths in 15 of the country’s 18 provinces from April 5, when the ministry began compiling the data, until Sept. 19. Of those, 328 were women and children. An additional 13,720 Iraqis were injured, the ministry said.
While most of the dead are believed to be civilians, the data include an unknown number of police and Iraqi troops. However, many Iraqi deaths, especially of insurgents, are not reported.
The Health Ministry began separating attacks by multinational and police forces and insurgents on June 10. From that date until Sept. 10, 1,295 Iraqis were killed in clashes with multinational forces and police while 516 were killed by terrorist operations, the ministry said.
Terrorist operations were defined as explosive devices detonated in residential areas, car bombs or assassinations.
The ministry said it didn’t have statistics for the three provinces in the north: Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah, ethnic Kurdish areas that generally have been more peaceful than the rest of the country.
U.S. military officials said “damage will happen” in their effort to wrest control of some areas from insurgents. Lt. Col. Steve Boylan said insurgents often are based in residential areas.
