Iraq civilian death toll 'highest since end of war' [View All]

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=354752006

Iraq civilian death toll 'highest since end of war'

THE civilian death toll in Iraq was higher in the last year than at any point since the end of the war, according to figures released today.

A study by the Iraq Body Count (IBC) project suggests that 12,617 people have been killed over the past year.

That figure does not include the hundreds who have died in the recent upsurge of violence between Shia and Sunni groups.

The violence continued yesterday as gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private security company in Baghdad and kidnapped as many as 50 employees.

After a separate supposed kidnapping, an American military patrol found 18 bodies - all men - in an abandoned minibus on a road between two notorious mostly Sunni, west Baghdad neighbourhoods. Other bodies were found around the city.