Human Rights Minister Mohammed Shayaa al-Sudani said that the casualty toll, since 2003, has reached 70,000 killed and 250,000 wounded. Also, there are considerable numbers of widows and orphans. This figure is considered conservative. Iraq Body Count presents a much higher number of civilian deaths, while the ORB study placed the number of total deaths at well over a million. Due to several factors, it is virtually impossible to give an accurate figure and all numbers are estimates.
A spokesman for the Iraqiya bloc said that the party would try to convince Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to return to Baghdad to stand trial on terrorism charges, if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will implement the terms of the Arbil Agreement. Turkey has refused to hand over Hashemi who traveled there last month.
Maliki was recently given 15 days in which to implement the terms, which were agreed to in 2010, or face a "no confidence" vote. The 15-day period ends on Friday. The head of Ahrar blocm Baha al-Aaraji, said it should be enough to agree to the terms again because some of them will take more time than given.
Martin Kobler, head of the U.N. mission in Iraq, said, "all our figures indicate that there is no deterioration in the security situation of the country" and that 600 people have, so far, died in violence this year.
Meanwhile, at least 11 Iraqis were killed today and 22 more were wounded in a second day of attacks focusing on Anbar province.
Three bombs in Falluja left a wake of destruction. The first bomb blast killed five people and wounded eight. At least one person was killed and ten more people were wounded in two more attacks. Three more bombs were defused. A curfew is in place.
In Mosul, two civilians were killed and three policemen were wounded when a bomb exploded.
A bomb at the Hamrin home of a KDP member exploded, killing his mother and wounding his wife.
An intelligence agent was killed in a sticky bomb blast in Kirkuk.
Police killed a gunman in Amiriyat al-Falluja.
