Iraq’s civilian deaths drop in 2008

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Acts of violence in Iraq dropped in 2008 from their record levels in 2006 and 2007, but attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces remain high. “At least 8.300- 9.000 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2008, brining up the number of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to at least 98.400,” according to statistics released by the Iraq Body Count (IBC). Nearly 25 civilians were killed everyday in 2008, the study revealed. “The most notable reduction in violence has been in Baghdad,” according to the co-founder of the IBC, John Sloboda. Meanwhile, IBC said that over 4.200 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the country since 2003, in addition to 175 British troops. The number of civilian deaths among foreign troops fell to 584 in 2008, compared to 1.359 in 2007. The Iraq Body Count project (IBC) is one of several efforts to record civilian deaths attributable to coalition and insurgent military action, sectarian violence and criminal violence in Iraq since the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. This refers to excess civilian deaths caused by criminal action resulting from the breakdown in law and order which followed the coalition invasion. SS (S) 1