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.
Suffer the Children: Iraq
