Top > World > 2005 > July > 2005-07-20

Iraqi civilian deaths close to 25,000

Almost 25,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the two years since the U.S.-led invasion of the country, more than a third by American forces, according to a report that is sure to stir debate.

There is no definitive account of how many civilians have died in Iraq, and the issue has long been contentious. Antiwar campaigners contend that the Bush administration and the Pentagon have deliberately avoided body counts so as to minimize the toll that the occupation has taken on Iraqis, while supporters of the war question the accuracy of the counts.

The report, released Tuesday by a London-based group called Iraq Body Count, is a statistical tally of civilian deaths reported in the news media. In all, the researchers counted 24,865 civilians killed since the invasion of Iraq began in March 2003, almost half of them in Baghdad alone, with another major group in Falluja.