Iraq: ‘Conflict claimed 174,000 lives’ - database

THE Iraq conflict is likely to have led to the deaths of more than 174,000 people of all nationalities, an independent database has claimed.

The Iraq Body Count project (IBC) has been continuously tracking, analysing and maintaining a public record of civilian deaths since the beginning of 2003 when coalition forces invaded.

The organisation said it has documented 112,017 to 122,438 civilian deaths from violence from 20 March, 2003, to last Thursday.

It said it had also calculated that it has led to more than 39,900 combatants of all nationalities being killed.

The IBC, which cross-checks data from media reports, hospital and morgue records, said it reached the 174,000 figure by adding previously unreported civilian deaths released by WikiLeaks.

The most intense period for civilian deaths was at the beginning of the conflict, when more than 6,700 people were killed in just three weeks – a rate of 320 per day for 21 days. The most violent month after the invasion was July 2006, with 3,266 deaths.