Number of Unidentified Bodies Found in Baghdad Rose Sharply in May

[maddezmom]

Source: NYT

BAGHDAD, June 1 — The number of unidentified corpses discovered in Baghdad soared more than 70 percent during May, according to new statistics from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, an indication that sectarian killings are rising sharply as militias return to the streets after lying low during the first few months of the troop “surge.”

In May, 726 unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad, many bound and shot in the head or showing signs of torture and execution, compared with 411 during April, according to figures provided by a ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The Bush administration and military have cited a decline in sectarian killings as proof that the troop escalation is working. And despite May’s increase in corpses, the numbers remain far below the peak of sectarian executions last year. In July and August, for example, a total of 5,106 people died violent deaths in Baghdad alone, according to the United Nations, including 3,391 reported by the city’s morgue.

The new figures also show a decline in the number of deaths of identifiable victims in Baghdad to 344 in May from 495 in April. While victims of car bombs, homemade bombs and mortar strikes can usually be identified, those who are kidnapped, tortured and executed are normally stripped of identification before their bodies are dumped.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/world/middleeast/02iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[merwin]

1. The surge is working! Let's keep it going!

[maddezmom]

2. Civilian death toll in Iraq spikes in May to nearly 2000

Civilian death toll in Iraq spikes in May

BAGHDAD, June 2 (Reuters) - The number of civilians killed in Iraq jumped to nearly 2,000 in May, the highest monthly toll since the start of a U.S.-backed security crackdown in February, according to figures released on Saturday.

Militants blew up a strategic bridge that links Baghdad to the northern cities of Kirkuk and Arbil, and a mortar barrage on the Sunni enclave of Fadhil in mainly Shi'ite eastern Baghdad, killed 10 people and wounded 30, police said.

In Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Masoud Barzani, president of Kurdistan, urged Turkey not to send troops into the region to crush Kurdish separatist rebels believed to be hiding there.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL241131.htm

[uppityperson]

3. The surge is working and here is why. They are unidentified.

Obviously they have been brought in from outside the area to make it look like people are still getting killed. Or, maybe they are FROM outside the area, and have come to Baghdad to fight the USA DemocracyNowFreedomDoers. See? :sarcasm: on the odd chance someone were to take me seriously.

Heartbreaking. Need to get MIA wristbands for Iraqis, or what would missing civilian acronym be?