BAGHDAD — Execution-style killings, not headline-grabbing bombings, have been the leading cause of death among civilians in the Iraq war, a study released Wednesday shows.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, point to the brutal sectarian nature of the conflict, where death squads once roamed the streets hunting down members of the rival Muslim sect.
Estimates of the number of civilians killed in Iraq vary widely. The study was based on the database maintained by Iraq Body Count, a private group that among other sources uses media reports including those of The Associated Press.
The authors concede the data is not comprehensive.
The findings also provide further evidence of the brutal sectarian cleansing and retaliatory violence between Shiites and Sunnis that pushed the country to the brink of civil war before easing a year and a half ago.
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"I think that a lot of the executions with torture had to do with trying to get people to move out of their houses," said Michael Spagat, one of the study's authors. "It had to strike fear into people's hearts. A lot of it is just hatred and retribution."
The study covered the period from the March 20, 2003, invasion through March 19, 2008, in which 91,358 violent deaths were recorded by Iraq Body Count.
Apart from media reports, Iraq Body Count uses figures from morgues and hospitals.
However, the authors focused on only 60,481 deaths linked to specific events, excluding Iraqis killed in prolonged episodes of violence.
The study found that 19,706 of the victims, or 33 percent, were abducted and killed execution-style, with nearly a third of those showing signs of torture such as bruises, drill holes or burns.
A car bomb exploded Wednesday near a government security convoy in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, killing at least 11 guards and wounding about 20 other people, police said.
The city is the center of Iraq's vast northern oil fields and the focus of an ethnic power struggle.
The parked car exploded about 4 p.m. as a four-vehicle convoy of the state-owned Northern Gas Company was driving by, said police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir.
US toll in Iraq
• Deaths: 4,277
• Wounded: 31,193
No recent casualties identified Wednesday.
Source: Department of Defense
