Iraq claims war death toll is 85,000

AT least 85,000 people died from 2004 to 2008 in Iraq’s violence, the first official report by Iraq’s government on the death toll since the war begun has estimated.

The report, released by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry as part of a larger study on human rights, said 85,694 people were killed from 2004-08, and 147,195 were wounded during the same period.

The Iraqi death toll has been a hotly disputed subject on all sides.

This report was based on death certificates issued by the health ministry.

Statistics for 2003 have been extremely difficult to obtain as there was no functioning Iraqi government during that time.

The report described the years following the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, as extremely violent years.

“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,” it said.

The report shows that 1,279 children and 2,334 women were killed. It also puts the death toll of the university professors at 263, judges at 21, lawyers 95 and journalists at 269.

The toll also included 15,000 unidentified bodies.