In The Lancet's special 9/11 issue, a report details the devastating impact ofsuicide bombs on both Iraqi civilians and coalition troops. Theeditorial is by Dr Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks, Institute ofPsychiatry, King's College London, UK, and Iraq Body Count, London,UK, and colleagues. In Iraq, two data sets recorded suicide bomb casualties from March20, 2003 to December 31, 2010, and examined and compared byinvestigators. One set documented coalition-soldier deaths fromsuicide bombs and the other documented deaths and injuries of Iraqicivilians caused by armed violence.
19% (42,928 of 225,789) ofoverall civilian casualties were caused by documented suicide bombevents, 26% (30,644 of 117,165) of injured civilians, and 11%(12,284 of 108,624) deaths. For civilians the injured-to-killed ratio was 2-5 individualsinjured to one person killed from suicide bombs. 43% of recordedsuicide bomb deaths were caused by suicide bombers on foot, suicidebombers using cars cause 36% of documented deaths and 40% ofcivilian injuries. 75% of the 3,963 identifiable suicide bomb fatalities were men, 11%women, and 14% children.
Children made up for a higher ratio ofdemographically identifiable deaths caused by suicide bombingscompared to general armed violence (9%). For women theinjured-to-killed ratio for all suicide bombings was a littlehigher than for men, however, for children the ratio was lower thanfor both women and men, revealing lower survival of children fromsuicide bombings. In at least 159 (16%) of 1,003 suicide bombing events documented,an Iraqi child died, and at least 211 (21%) women or children diedof the 1,003 bombings documents. 14% of civilian deaths recordedwere police officers, an occupational category overlapping with thedemographic category of men and to some degree women. During 2003 to 2010, 200 coalition soldiers were killed in 79suicide bomb attacks.
Compared to coalition soldiers, more Iraqicivilians were killed per suicide bombings. These were documentedas follows: 175 US soldiers killed in 76 suicide bombs, 16 Italiansoldiers killed in one event, three British killed in one event,and four Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers killed in one event. The researchers explain: "Rapid access to adequate hospital treatment is crucial forsurvival of blast injuries, but such access can be difficult forcivilians in Iraq. Survival and recovery of Iraqis injured bysuicide bombs could possibly have been worsened by Iraq's severeshortage of adequate emergency rooms, diagnostic equipment, trainedparamedics and doctors, senior and specialty surgeons needed forcomplex blast injuries, intensive care units, rehabilitation, andsupplies." They conclude: Our findings suggest that the Iraqi civilian population suffers asubstantial public health burden because it is a primary chosentarget of suicide bombers and those who deploy them.
Our findingsabout the likelihood of surviving injuries, which was particularlylow for children recorded in our dataset, need further study anddraw attention to the need for improved monitoring, prevention, andinterventions to reduce mortality from suicide bombs in Iraq." In a joint comment, Dr Gilbert Burnham, Johns Hopkins School ofPublic Health, Baltimore, MD, USA (and co-author on the 2006 Lancetreport on deaths in Iraq) states: "Prevention of suicide attacks is difficult because of theircomplex origins. The military's approach of controlling access andattacking suspicious targets has protected coalition forces inIraq, but the resulting deaths of innocent civilians have alienatedmany Iraqis. This action has played a part in shifting suicideattacks towards civilian targets. Attempts to stop bombers areoften futile.
Most effective is the elimination of conditions that cause popularsupport for terrorist groups. Interruption of jihadist networks andtheir financial support is also a successful approach. The changinghabits of populations exposed to terror attacks (eg, the avoidanceof high-risk locations) build resilience and individual copingcapacities. Eventually, suicide attacks lose their strategic andpsychological effect on a population, and insurgent groups shift toother methods." Written by Grace Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. I am an expert from Environment, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as coaxial rf connectors , brushless gear motor.
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