tinyurl.com/qmmsp -> news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060907/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_violent_deaths_5
Iraq's Health Ministry show there was no significant decline in violent deaths in Baghdad last month, but the US military insisted Thursday the murder rate in the capital had fallen by 52 percent.
Baghdad recorded more than 1,500 violent deaths in August, according to final figures released this week by the Health Ministry. The final count was roughly the same as the figure the ministry released for July, before the US-led security crackdown began in the Baghdad area. The final figure also was nearly three times the preliminary count released by the same ministry last week. If accurate, the final figures cast doubt on US and Iraqi claims of a significant reduction in the level of violence here since the crackdown was launched Aug. Barry Johnson refused to provide an explanation, merely referring The Associated Press to a statement on a US military Web site that said the murder rate in Baghdad dropped 52 percent from the daily rate for July. "The violence Baghdad endured in July receded during the month of August," the statement added. "Attacks in Baghdad were well below the monthly average for July." Deputy Health Minister Hakem al-Zamly this week put the August violent death count for Baghdad at 1,536, based on figures from the city morgue. However, preliminary Health Ministry figures released last week showed violent deaths in August in Baghdad at just 550, according to Dr. Iraqi officials could provide no explanation for the difference between the preliminary and final August figures, but it could have resulted in part from a late August surge in deaths. More than 250 people were killed in Baghdad in the final week of the month. Efforts by the AP to contact Amir on Thursday for an explanation were unsuccessful. Accurate figures on the number of people who have died since the Iraq conflict began in March 2003 have long been difficult to obtain. The Health Ministry relies on reports from government hospitals and morgues. Poor phone lines and shortages of trained staff and computers can delay entering death reports into databases, which means the preliminary count may have lagged sharply. But accurate figures are important because Iraqi and US officials -- anxious to demonstrate progress as support for the war declines in the US -- have used them to claim success in curbing violence in Baghdad. William B Caldwell said the murder rate in Baghdad fell by 46 percent from July to August. Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie insisted last week that execution-style killings and sectarian violence had dropped by 45 percent in the last six weeks.
Iraqi fire fighter extinguish a fire at gas station, in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Sept. Six bomb attacks, mostly targeted police patrols in Baghdad killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 Thursday, hours before a highly anticipated ceremony in which the US-led coalition was to hand over control of the country's armed forces command to Iraqi authorities.
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