August violent deaths in Baghdad shows no drop from month before

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=§ion=focusoniraq&xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/September/focusoniraq_September46.xml

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Baghdad recorded more than 1,500 violent deaths in August, according to final figures released by the Health Ministry this week - nearly three times the preliminary figure the same ministry had released last week. The figure is a sharp contradiction of US and Iraqi claims that a security crackdown led to a steep drop in deaths in the capital.

Instead, the number of deaths in the capital in August was roughly the same as during July, before the US-led security crackdown began, the Health Ministry officials said.

They could provide no explanation for the discrepancy, 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 August.

The discrepancy also highlights the fact that after more than three years of war, Iraqi officials still have no reliable system for counting casualties - leaving death tolls uncertain and varying sharply and with no explanation even within one ministry.

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. That is roughly the same as the figure for July for Baghdad provided by the same ministry.

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1. John Negroponte's death squad plan now in full implementation