At least 700 Iraqis die in 8 days of unrelenting violence

[Jcrowley]

Nov. 19, 2006, 3:46PM
At least 700 Iraqis die in 8 days of unrelenting violence
By STEVEN R. HURST
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The numbers are staggering: In the past eight days, 714 Iraqis have fallen victim to the country's sectarian bloodbath. They've been beheaded, tortured and blown up while looking for work. They've been shot, kidnapped and felled by mortars.

The number of killings in the past eight days is more than all but a few U.S. states see in a year. Iraq's death toll has reached at least 1,319 already in November, well above the 1,216 who died in all of October, which was the deadliest month in Iraq since The Associated Press began tracking the figure in April 2005.

At least 111 people were killed nationwide on Sunday, following a week of appallingly high daily death tolls: 134, 90, 119, 106, 49, 52 and 53.

The actual totals are likely considerably higher because many deaths are not reported. Victims in those cases are quickly buried according to Muslim custom and never reach morgues or hospitals to be counted.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4346829.html