Study: Iraq civilian death toll lowest since invasion

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence in Iraq this year fell to its lowest level since the 2003 US-led invasion, but the decline is slowing as low-level conflict takes root, a study showed on Thursday.

Human rights group Iraq Body Count (IBC) put the 2010 civilian death toll in Iraq at 3,976 up to December 23, compared to 4,680 in the 2009 year. IBC said that the annual decline in the number of violent deaths had slowed to 15 percent, compared to declines of 50 percent and 63 percent in the previous two years. (Reuters)