Region | Iraq
June deadliest month as nearly 447 killed in Iraq
At least 447 Iraqi civilians were killed in June, double the toll from the previous month, according to an Associated Press tally, as insurgents took aim at crowded areas to maximise the number of casualties.
- AP
- Published: 20:33 July 2, 2009
- An Iraqi man drives a damaged car away from the site of a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood. The attack was the first in Baghdad since US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities in the first step toward winding down the American war effort by the end of 2011.
- Image Credit: AP
Baghdad: At least 447 Iraqi civilians were killed in June, double the toll from the previous month, according to an Associated Press tally, as insurgents took aim at crowded areas to maximise the number of casualties.
The spike in violence reflects the stiff challenges facing Iraqi security forces following the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban areas this week.
But the numbers are still far lower than previous years, and the bombings by suspected Sunni extremists are not triggering the type of retaliatory attacks from Shiite militias that nearly led to civil war in 2006-2007.
The number of American troop deaths, meanwhile, dropped to 15 in June after an eight-month high of 25 in May. Four US soldiers were killed on Monday - the last day of regular combat operations in the cities.
The high Iraqi toll was fuelled by several huge bombings over the past 10 days, including the deadliest blast this year in a Shiite town near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
At least 82 people were killed in the June 20 attack. That and most of the other bombings targeted market districts, mosques or other public areas to avoid detection and kill as many people as possible.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks, but car bombings and suicide attacks bear the signature of Al Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgent groups.
"The attacks show Al Qaida will now go after the softest of soft spots just to kill innocent civilians in order for them to try and ignite sectarian violence," said Gen Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq.
But he was optimistic that the retaliatory violence of the past has not re-emerged.
June was the deadliest month for Iraqis this year excluding April, when the deaths of 82 Iranian pilgrims in a bombing pushed the toll to 451, an AP count showed. There were 225 Iraqis killed in May.
Overall violence remains at lower levels than past years after a US troop buildup in 2007, a Sunni revolt against Al Qaida in Iraq and a Shiite militia cease-fire. But Iraqis continue to face dangers daily.
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