"Almost 6700 Britons have needed hospital treatment in Iraq since the invasion three years ago — almost as many as the total number of British troops still stationed there", the March 31 Belfast Telegraph reported. According to Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures released that day, about 4000 British troops were sufficiently injured in Iraq to require medical evacuation back to Britain. "Until this year", the Belfast Telegraph stated, "the MoD refused to give any casualty figures other than the number of Britons killed in action, which has reached 103". In January, defence minister John Reid had stated that there had only been 230 British troops wounded since the start of the war.
From Green Left Weekly, April 12, 2006.
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