Iraq conflict killed nearly 25,000 civilians

A report published by the Iraq Body Count project, a US-British NGO, says that 24,865 civilians were killed in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003. 70 % of the deaths occured after US-President Bush proclaimed the end of major combat on May 1 2003.

The study, compiled from more than 10,000 media reports, says that 37 % of these deaths were the result of allied actions. Anti-occupation forces and terrorists accounted for 9 % of the deaths, while criminal violence was blamed for 36 %. The 28-page dossier also showed that the situation in Iraq is getting worse. The fatalties in the second year after the invasion were twice as high as in the first year after the end of the war.

"The ever-mounting Iraqi death toll is the forgotten cost of the decision to go to war in Iraq. On average, 34 ordinary Iraqis have met violent deaths every day since the invasion of March 2003", said Professor John Sloboda, one of the authors of the report.

The US-Miliary disputed the figures and said it is doing everything to avoid civilian casualties. "Since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom until now, we have categorically not targeted civilians", said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a spokesman for the US-Military in Baghdad.