Bloody statistics

A reading of the figures kept by Iraq Body Count shows that year four was the worst in several ways:

Almost half (44 per cent) of all violent civilian deaths after the initial invasion phase occurred in the just-ended fourth year of the conflict

Mortar attacks that kill civilians have quadrupled in the past year (from 73 to 289)

Massive bomb blasts that kill more than 50 people have nearly doubled in the past year (from nine to 17)

Fatal suicide bombs, car bombs, and roadside bombing attacks have doubled in the past year (from 712 to 1,476)

At least one in 160 of Baghdad's 6.5 million population has been violently killed since the beginning of the war, representing 64 per cent of deaths recorded so far