1,500 VIOLENT DEATHS REPORTED IN IRAQ

By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer August 9, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 1,500 violent deaths were reported in the Baghdad area last month, a top health official said Wednesday, providing figures that showed a steady increase in killings since the beginning of the year.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Sabah al-Husseini also said about two-thirds of the deaths reported in Baghdad since January were due to violence. Last year, about one third of the 10,105 deaths recorded in the capital were due to violence.

Those figures do not include members of the U.S.-led coalition.

"We had hoped that in 2006 violent deaths would decrease," al-Husseini said. "Unfortunately, so far, they have doubled and now two-thirds of the recorded deaths are violent deaths."

The Health Ministry's count appeared consistent with figures provided by Baghdad morgue officials.

A total of 1,815 bodies were brought to Baghdad's morgue last month, Dr. Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi, the morgue's assistant manager, told The Associated Press. He said about 85 percent of them had died violently.

The biggest cause of violent deaths was gunshot wounds, mostly in the head, al-Obeidi said.

"Some deaths were caused by strangulation, others by severe beating and some were in very bad shape you couldn't even tell what the reason was," al-Obeidi said.

Al-Obeidi said the sharp increase in deaths had strained the morgue's facilities and workers there "stack the bodies on top of each other."

To deal with the problem, the morgue was provided with two refrigeration trucks parked outside its building.

"What can I say? Whatever numbers we receive, we have to deal with — where else would we send them?" al-Obeidi said.

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The breakdown of violent deaths since January as provided by the Health Ministry:

January: 1,068

February: 1,110

March: 1,294

April: 1,155

May: 1,265

June: 1,500

July: 1,500