Iraqi fear rises along with death toll

Fear of violence among Iraqis has been amplified by the latest death toll of nearly 3,500 in July, making it by far the deadliest month this year. Sectarian violence has overtaken insurgency as the cause of death, officials said. "Day after day we find that Iraq is more impossible to live in," said Mustafa al-Khuri, 36, father of four and a hairdresser in the capital, Baghdad. "With the latest numbers released by the government, we find that even to go to buy food is dangerous, and it is impossible even for our children to go to school due to the increasing violence." An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed per day in July, according to figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue. At least 3,438 civilians died violently that month, a 9 percent increase over the tally in June and nearly twice as many as in January. A year ago, in July 2005, Iraq had 1,100 violent deaths–none of them due to sectarian violence. Sectarian violence took a dramatic upturn after Feb. 22, when a revered Shiite shrine was bombed in Samarra, north of the capital. In the latest incident of sectarian violence, at least 35 people were killed and more than 100 others injured on Aug. 10 in a suicide bomb attack at a market in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf. The attack occurred in close proximity to the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most sacred Shiite Muslim sites. A Sunni group claimed responsibility. Experts say that many Sunnis who were formerly insurgents attacking the US military are instead aiming their guns at the Shiites. Dr. Sabah al-Husseiny, deputy health minister, said that 70 percent of the deaths reported since January were due to sectarian violence, fueled by the rise of criminal gangs and death squads nationwide. But in 2005, almost no deaths were caused by sectarian violence–and about 75 percent were due to military actions and the insurgency, he said. Now, al-Husseiny said, "Each day the methods of killing are more horrifying." Torture, strangulation, and multiple gun shots to the head are increasingly common, said Dr. Fa'aq Amin, director of the Forensic Medicine Institute at the Ministry of Health. "Instead of the government's new plans improving security in Iraq, it looks like they are worsening the problem," Amin said, referring to the reconciliation plan announced in June. Government officials emphasized that the rise in violence is largely due to the growing number of extremist vigilantes and criminal gangs countrywide. For example, a vigilante might shoot a teenage couple kissing on the street for improper behavior. Gang members sit in ordinary cafes offering to carry out contract killings along sectarian lines. "The government is focusing on terrorists and insurgents, but now we see that the reality is different," said Mahmoud Obaid, 54, a doctor and professor at Mustansiriyah University. "It has to change its plan and tackle the criminality issue faster." Fearing that the violence is inescapable, more Iraqis have started to pack their bags to flee the country. "We cannot stay in Iraq one more day," said Ibrahim Younis, 35, a government employee who just quit his job and plans to take his family to Jordan. "Death is near the door of any innocent civilian just because he prays in a different way." In Jordan, Younis said, "even if I have to work as a garbage collector, my family is going to be safe."