WHO: 151,000 Iraqis dead after US invasion

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-10-2008 13:57

About 151-thousand Iraqi civilians died from violence in the three years following the US-led invasion of their country.

About 151-thousand Iraqi civilians died from violence in the three years following the US-led invasion of  their country.(CCTV.com)

This estimate comes from a World Health Organization report published on Wednesday.

The new study covers violent deaths of Iraqi civilians between the period of March 2003 and June 2006.

Experts call it the most comprehensive study since the US-led invasion began.

The study used an Iraqi health ministry survey of nearly ten thousand households.

That figure is five times the number of those interviewed in a disputed 2006 John Hopkins University study that said more than six hundred thousand Iraqis died over the same period.

The UN agency's estimate exceeds the widely-cited 80-thousand to 87-thousand civilian death toll by the human rights group Iraq Body Count.

An author of the new study says a lot of uncertainties existed in making such estimates.

About 151-thousand Iraqi civilians died from violence in the three years following the US-led invasion of  their country.(CCTV.com)

Insecurity made parts of Baghdad and Anbar province unreachable for those conducting the survey.

Many families also fled their homes as a result of the violence, making it hard to give a precise assessment.

The author admits the margin of error for the toll is relatively high.

But Iraq's top health official has described the WHO report as accurate, saying the survey indicates a massive death toll since the beginning of the conflict.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei