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The death toll for children in Afghanistan killed by the war between the United States and the Taliban just went up by 95 according to Afghan officials. The U.S. military is disputing the claim.
It was an 8% increase in civilian deaths from 2010. 2011 was also the fifth year in a row that the civilian toll has became steadily worse.
The report said insurgents killed more than three-quarters of the civilians who died, with a steep rise in people killed in suicide bombings. It said roadside bombs were the single biggest killer of civilians, accounting for nearly one in three deaths.
Iraq Body Count (IBC) recorded 4,087 civilian deaths from violence in 2011. Evidence of these deaths was extracted from some 6,828 distinct reports collected from over 90 sources covering 1,884 incidents, each of which is openly listed on the IBC website. This brings the total number of deaths in the IBC database so far to 114,734. These numbers represent a verifiable documentary record of deaths, and are not estimates
The civilian deaths in this war have been momentous. One simple reason to explain the high count of civilian deaths is the fact that war efforts were concentrated in a highly populated area, and many war-related deaths occured in residential areas (though there are also much more complex theories on why there is a high civilian death rate).
Also, these estimates do not take into account the fact that the human cost of war can radically change the calculations of governments. If Israel bears significant civilian casualties in an Iranian counterstrike, what limits will the Netanyahu government observe in response? How will the extent of Iranian casualties change the calculus in Tehran? If hundreds or thousands of Iranians are left dead, does Iran's increasingly desperate government try to draw Israel into a messy war of tit-for-tat missile strikes over weeks, rather than days, in the hopes of imposing such political and human costs that Israel gives up?
Libyan estimate: At least 30,000 died in the war", AP, Sept. 8 2011
Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by OldCorp
Very true. Especially in the case of road side bombs, which are not always very effective at taking out their intended targets. Often it ends up with civilian casualties.