News Desk |
The United States of America’s ‘War on Terror’ in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the wake of September 11, 2001 terror attacks have claimed nearly 500,000 lives as stated by the recent study published.
A study conducted in the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs of Brown’s University has placed the death toll in between 4, 80000-500,000. But the figures of about half a million deaths may not be accurate due to the “limitations in the reporting” and the “undercount of the killings in war”, as said by the author Nera Crawford of the research paper titled “Human Cost of the Post-9/11 Wars: Lethality and the Need for Transparency.”
Read more: US ‘war on terror’ has killed 500,000 people: study
“We may never know the total direct death toll in these wars.”For example, tens of thousands of civilians may have died in retaking Mosul and other cities from ISIS [also known as ISIL] but their bodies have likely not been recovered,” said Crawford in her research.
According to the dreadful figures, Iraq counted the largest number of deaths, ranging in between 182,272 and 204, 575 amongst others. 34, 840 civilians are stated to have lost their lives in Afghanistan, while 23,372 were reportedly killed in Pakistan.
Almost 7000 US troops were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same time period. The mentioned figures include the civilians, armed fighters, the US and allied forces troops, local police and security forces.
Read more: America’s War on Terror & Pakistan’s sacrifices – Need for…
“The new toll is a more than 110,000 increase over the last count, issued just two years ago in August 2016. Though the war on terror is often overlooked by the American public, press and lawmakers, the increased body count signals that, far from diminishing, this war remains intense”, said Brown University in a statement.
Perhaps it is the humans that have paid the highest price to protect the existence of the United States of America. The grave losses occurred in the past 18-years have raised questions on the very intent behind initiating ‘War on Terror’ and its outcomes.