Iraqi civilians continue to be the main victims of the brute force unleashed by the US forces in Iraq, Hassan Hamid reports from Baghdad The United States air strikes against Iraqi cities and towns and growing violence because of the security vacuum that swept the country since the US invasion of Iraq last year, have led to the killing of thousands of civilians including women and children; a fact viewed by many Iraqis as a "genocide". There is no official figure on the death toll among Iraqi civilians but according to private estimates some 10,000 to 30,000 were killed since the US invaded in March 2003. These deaths caused mainly by US bombings, clashes between Iraqis and the US-led occupation forces, car bombs and mortar attacks. They also include the victims of crime that has surged because of the worsening security prevalent in the country after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. Probably the only official figure came from the Sheikh Omar clinic in central Baghdad, which registered 10,363 deaths in Baghdad, and nearby towns since the US launched war on Iraq in March 2003. The excuse given by US officials for failing to track civilian deaths during the US-led occupation is that they don't have the resources. While they have enough resources to track down deaths among their forces which reached more than 1,050 according to their figures. But according to estimates of independent organisations the figure is much more. Some analysts believe that the US does not want to publish the correct figure of death toll among Iraqis because such a figure would arouse resentment among Arab and Muslim nations against the US. According to estimates of the Human Rights Organisation in Iraq more than 30,000 civilians were killed since the beginning of the US-led invasion. It said that the figure was based on reports by Iraqi news media. The Iraqi Health Ministry has started registering civilian deaths since April when heavy fighting broke out in Falluja and Najaf. The ministry's figures indicate 2,956 civilians, including 125 children, died across the country as a result of military intervention between 5 April and 30 August. Of those, 829 were in Baghdad, the ministry said. According to figures conducted by Baghdad's Medicolegal Institute, which administers the city's morgues, the death toll reached 360 among civilians each month from May through April which means around an average of 12 deaths a day. While in 2002, during Saddam rule, the deaths caused by violence was only an average of 10 a month, the institute's document showed. But probably in Baghdad the death toll among civilians is less than in other Iraqi cities like Samaraa, Falluja and Najaf which have been the scenes of heavy fighting between the Iraqi resistance forces and the US-led troops. During the recent military operation in Samaraa that started on Friday tens of civilians were killed. The US army said it had killed 125 and wounded hundreds whom they called "insurgents" while local people said those who were killed were defenceless people who kept to their homes when US planes raided them. "It is a massacre against innocent people in Samaraa," declared Ahmed Bashaar Al-Faidhi, the spokesman of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, which represents Sunni Muslims in Iraq. He accused the US occupation troops and the Iraqi interim government of committing "genocide" against civilians in Samaraa and Falluja. Thousands of US troops joined by fighters of the pro-government Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi Army started a massive attack on Samaraa during the week to recapture the city after it was controlled by the anti-US resistance forces. In Falluja, hundreds of civilians were killed as the US troops carried out almost daily air strikes against the city, 70km northwest of Baghdad. Many houses were reduced to rubble and their inhabitants were buried in the debris. The US army say the air strikes are targeting followers of Al-Qaeda-linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. According to Falluja hospital figures more than 500 civilians were killed and 1,200 others were wounded in Falluja during the US- led military offensive against the Sunni- dominated city last April. Fighting ended when the US and resistance forces in Falluja reached a ceasefire. But the US warplanes started bombing the city in May. More than 300 civilians were killed and 700 others were wounded in these raids, according to figures of the city's general hospital. "The US is committing a massacre every day in Falluja under the pretext that (Jordanian militant Abu Musab) Al-Zarqawi is hiding there. It is a lie which the US troops is selling in order to eliminate the people of Falluja because they oppose the US occupation," Fadhil Al-Badrani, a resident in Falluja told Al-Ahram Weekly. Telafar, 400km north of Baghdad, was also the scene of fieriest military operation over the last few weeks. In one day of fighting in the town led by US troops, some 100 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded. US military sources say the town is a suspected haven for terrorists crossing into Iraq from Syria. The aim of the US operation was, therefore, "to restore control of Telafar to legitimate Iraqi government". In one day this week, at least 23 Iraqis were killed and tens others wounded when three car bombs exploded in Baghdad and Mosul. Most of the victims were civilians. In another day during the week 35 children and seven other Iraqis were killed and scores were wounded when suicide bombers detonated at least two vehicles in a popular suburb of Baghdad as children ran to collect sweets from a US troops patrol. The two car bombs have prompted thousands of Iraqi children who were due to start the new school year on Saturday to stay home. Their parents are too scared to send them out to schools amid increasing violence. The first day of schooling has been already delayed by two weeks because of the violence.
