Government Report: At least 85,000 Iraqis killed, 147,000 injured

In a first official comprehensive study of the number of deaths in Iraq between 2004 and 2008; the Human Rights Ministry have concluded that at least 85,000 Iraqis were killed in the region.

A new comprehensive analysis on the death tolls in Iraq has been released by the Human Rights Ministry, according to the Associated Press. Between the beginning of 2004 and October 31, 2008, 85,694 Iraqi civilians, military and police were killed and 147,195 were injured. However, the numbers do not include US military personnel, insurgents or contractors of the US forces. Further numbers show 1,279 children, 2,334 women, 263 university professors, 21 judges, 95 lawyers and 269 journalists all were killed, according to the report. “These figures draw a picture about the impact of terrorism and the violation of natural life in Iraq,” the report said. The report did not include numbers from when the US-led invasion first began in March 2003. Between 2005 and February 2009, the Associated Press obtained numbers that 87,215 Iraqis have died in the war. Until this report had been released, number of deaths were closely guarded and remained quite a secret from the general public. The ministry’s report, which was released on Tuesday, stated, “Through the terrorist attacks like explosions, assassinations, kidnappings and forced displacements, the outlawed groups have created these terrible figures which represent a big challenge for the rule of law and for the Iraqi people.” However, other reports, using different formulas, according to the BBC, have figures ranging from 100,000 to 500,000. Groups like Iraq Body Count, a non-governmental organization, have 93,540 fatalities in Iraq. After the report was published in the media on Wednesday, Wijdan Salim, Iraq's human rights minister said, according to Al Jazeera, “I am very pained for anyone who lost his life. But ... we are trying to change the whole situation in Iraq, to have a democracy, to have a new government, to have the rule of law. We hope that 2010 will be different than now.”