Number of registered refugees climbs dramatically in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A quarter of a million Iraqis have fled sectarian violence and registered as refugees in the past seven months, data released on Thursday showed, amid an upsurge in attacks that has accompanied the Ramadan holy month.

Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq called for the kidnapping of Westerners to swap for a Muslim cleric jailed in the United States, according to an Internet audio tape.

The sectarian killing continued in Baghdad, where police said they had found the bodies of 40 victims -- bound, tortured and murdered -- in the last 24 hours, a total that has become almost commonplace in the capital over the last few weeks.

The United States says violence in Iraq has surged in the last two weeks, and this past week, the first of Ramadan, saw the most suicide bombs of any week since the war began in 2003.

The registered refugee figures showed 40,000 families -- 240,000 people -- claiming assistance, up from 27,000 families in July. The figures do not include an uncounted number of Iraqis who have moved home without claiming aid.

"The reason for this increase is that the security situation in some provinces has deteriorated considerably, forcing people to leave their homes in fear for their lives," said Migration Ministry spokesman Sattar Nowruz.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

Related Link:
"Squatting" families evicted in Baghdad

Related Link:
Ethnic civil war rages through Iraq

Related Link:
City of Death: The battle for Baghdad

Related Link:
U.S.: Sadr City Again a Militants' Haven

Related Link:
Sunni, Shiite factions carve up Baghdad

Related Link:
Grim Outlook Seen in West Iraq Without More Troops and Aid

Related Link:
Analysis: Kurds and Arabs vie for control of Mosul

Related Link:
Operation Sinbad: British, Iraq troops begin Basra mission