US 'war on terror' has killed 500,000 people: study
Washington, Nov 8: About half a million people have died violently in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan due to the US "war on terror" that was launched following the September 11 attacks in 2001, according to a study released Thursday.
The report by Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs put the death toll at between 480,000 and 507,000 people -- but said the actual number is likely higher.
The new toll "is a more than 110,000 increase over the last count, issued just two years ago in August 2016," Brown said in a statement.
"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." The death toll includes insurgents, local police and security forces, civilians and US and allied troops.
The report's author, Neta Crawford, said many of those reported by US and local forces as militants may actually have been civilians.
"We may never know the total direct death toll in these wars," Crawford wrote.
"For example, tens of thousands of civilians may have died in retaking Mosul and other cities from ISIS but their bodies have likely not been recovered."
The report states that between 182,272 and 204,575 civilians have been killed in Iraq, 38,480 in Afghanistan, and 23,372 in Pakistan.
Nearly 7,000 US troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The tally does not include all people who have died indirectly as a result of war, including through a loss of infrastructure or disease.
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Petrol pump worker killed as SUV hits motorcycle head-on in Gurugram
Gurugram (PTI): A petrol pump worker died after an SUV rammed into his motorcycle in the Sushant Lok area here, police said on Thursday.
The accused driver fled the scene, leaving the vehicle after the accident. An FIR has been registered at the Sushant Lok police station, they said.
According to police, the accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when Mukesh was travelling from Sector 44 to Sushant Lok on Vyapar Kendra Road for some work.
Near Vyapar Kendra, a white Thar coming from the wrong side at high speed hit his motorcycle head-on, leaving him critically injured, they said.
The driver fled the scene, leaving the vehicle behind, police added.
Eyewitnesses claimed the vehicle had no number plates either at the front or rear.
Locals took Mukesh to a private hospital, where he died during treatment, police said. He was a resident of Rohta Patti in Palwal and worked at a petrol pump in Sector 44.
An FIR was registered against the unidentified driver, based on a complaint lodged by his brother Ashok. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem on Thursday, police said.
“The Thar vehicle has been seized from the spot. CCTV footage from the area is being examined, and the driver will be arrested soon,” a Gurugram police spokesperson said.
