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Sat, 4 Jul 21:09:42 GMT17

 
Iraq

A child lies injured in a car bomb attack in Doura. REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber

Iraq's ruinous wars, crippling sanctions and ongoing violence have had a devastating effect on children. Shootings and bombings have killed, injured and orphaned thousands, but the biggest killer is illness transmitted through unclean water and exacerbated by under-nutrition.

  • One in eight children dies before their fifth birthday.

  • Nine percent are acutely malnourished - double the number before the U.S.-led invasion.

  • Hundreds of schools have been attacked and teachers killed.

  • Unexploded ordinance and mines litter the country.

  • Children are injured on dumps looking for metal to sell to help support their families.

"I don't understand why adults do it (wage wars). I would never wish a war upon anyone. I would like to have it that children never have to fear war." Ali Ismaeel Abbas who lost his parents and both arms in a missile strike in Baghdad.




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