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‘Iraq humanitarian situation critical’

Millions of Iraqis still do not have clean water and medical care, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Sunday in a report marking the anniversary of the start of the 2003 war. “The humanitarian situation in most of the country remains among the most critical in the world,” the ICRC said.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis had disappeared since the war. “Many of those killed in the current violence have never been properly identified, because only a small percentage of the bodies have been turned over to Iraqi government institutions.”

Declining civilian casualties have been hailed by Iraqi and U.S. military officials as proof that new counter-insurgency tactics are working. But Beatrice Megevand Roggo, the ICRC’s head of operations for the Middle East, said those who have fled to escape violence remained extremely vulnerable. “Better security in some areas must not distract attention from the plight of millions who have essentially been left to their own devices.

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