| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"PagCal" |
| Date: |
28 Feb 2006 02:12:36 AM |
| Object: |
True Iraqi Death Toll 1,300 for Week |
Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
Morgue Count Eclipses Other Tallies Since Shrine Attack
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence
unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed
more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the
war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main
morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure
previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday --
blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently
suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the
bodies were sprawled with their hands still bound -- and many of them
had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their
abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
An Iraqi man weeps after his brother was killed in a mortar attack in
Baghdad. Several such attacks were reported, but for the most part,
violence appeared to have eased in the capital, where a round-the-clock
curfew was lifted.
An Iraqi man weeps after his brother was killed in a mortar attack in
Baghdad. Several such attacks were reported, but for the most part,
violence appeared to have eased in the capital, where a round-the-clock
curfew was lifted. (By Ali Jasim -- Reuters)
News From Iraq
* Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
* Diplomacy Helped To Calm the Chaos
* For U.S. Troops: Tough Choices
* Not Lame Yet?
* Abramoff's Media Pal
More News
U.S. Fatalities
Portraits of U.S. service members who have died since 2001.
• War in Iraq | Map: 2,000 Deaths
• Operation Enduring Freedom
Who's Blogging?
Read what bloggers are saying about this article.
* Seriously Though
* eternalhope.blog-city.com
* Demand More |
Full List of Blogs (21 links) »
Most Blogged About Articles
On washingtonpost.com | On the web
Save & Share
* Tag This Article
Saving options
1. Save to description:
Headline (required)
Subheadline
Byline
2. Save to notes (255 character max):
Subheadline Blurb None
3. Tag This Article
"After he came back from the evening prayer, the Mahdi Army broke into
his house and asked him, 'Are you Khalid the Sunni infidel?' " one man
at the morgue said, relating what were the last hours of his cousin,
according to other relatives. "He replied yes and then they took him away."
Aides to Sadr denied the allegations, calling them part of a smear
campaign by unspecified political rivals.
By Monday, violence between Sunni Arabs and Shiites appeared to have
eased. As Iraqi security forces patrolled, American troops offered
measured support, in hopes of allowing the Iraqis to take charge and
prevent further carnage.
But at the morgue, where the floor was crusted with dried blood, the
evidence of the damage already done was clear. Iraqis arrived throughout
the day, seeking family members and neighbors among the contorted bodies.
"And they say there is no sectarian war?" demanded one man. "What do you
call this?"
The brothers of one missing man arrived, searching for a body. Their
hunt ended on the concrete floor, provoking sobs of mourning: "Why did
you kill him?" "He was unarmed!" "Oh, my brother! Oh, my brother!"
Morgue officials said they had logged more than 1,300 dead since
Wednesday -- the day the Shiites' gold-domed Askariya shrine was bombed
-- photographing, numbering and tagging the bodies as they came in over
the nights and days of retaliatory raids.
The Statistics Department of the Iraqi police put the nationwide toll at
1,020 since Wednesday, but that figure was based on paperwork that is
sometimes delayed before reaching police headquarters. The majority of
the dead had been killed after being taken away by armed men, police said.
The disclosure of the death tolls followed accusations by the U.S.
military and later Iraqi officials that the news media had exaggerated
the violence between Shiites and Sunnis over the past few days.
The bulk of the previously known deaths were caused by bombings and
other large-scale attacks. But the scene at the morgue and accounts
related by relatives indicated that most of the bloodletting came at the
hands of self-styled executioners.
CONTINUED 1 2 3 Next >
Print This Article
E-Mail This Article
RSS Feed
Permission to Republish
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Advertising Links
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
