Civilian Toll In December Put at 1,930
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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
BAGHDAD, Jan. 2 -- The number of Iraqi civilians killed in political violence edged to a new monthly high of 1,930 in December after a big leap in November, data from Interior Ministry officials showed Tuesday.
The statistics, widely viewed as a partial record of violent deaths, showed that 12,320 civilians were killed during 2006 in what officials classified as "terrorist" violence, half of them in the last four months.
All such statistics are controversial in Iraq. The United Nations had reported 3,700 civilian deaths during October, based on data from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, but Iraqi officials said the number was too high.
The government has stopped publishing its own figures and has barred its officials from giving out such data.
However, the statistics from Interior Ministry sources appear to reflect trends consistent with official comments by the government and the U.S. military, which also refuses to release casualty figures for Iraqi civilians.
The tally does not include civilians wounded in attacks who later die from their injuries or kidnap victims whose fates remain unknown.
