LONDON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- More than 940,000 Iraqis may have died as a result of the Iraq war, according to a new U.S. medical study published in a British journal.
The respected British journal, The Lancet, published the results of a statistical study carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It concluded that the minimum number of deaths as a result of the Iraq war since the beginning of offensive operations by the United States and its allies to topple Saddam Hussien in March 2003 was over 392,000 and the maximum number was more than 942,000, with the most likely figure being 654,000
"We estimate that as of July, 2006, there have been 655,965 (392,979 - 942,636) excess deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2.5 percent of the population in the study area," the report said. "Of post-invasion deaths 601,027 (436,369-793,663) were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire," it said.
The report also concluded that "the number of people dying in Iraq has continued to escalate." However, "The number of deaths ascribed to coalition forces has diminished in 2006, although the actual numbers have increased every year."
"Gunfire remains the most common cause of death, although deaths from car bombings have increased," it said.
