Trump claims Chicago violence worse than Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria

President was speaking at campaign rally in Wisconsin

Donald Trump has claimed that recent violence in Chicago is worse than in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria – countries where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed during long and protracted wars.

During a speech at a campaign rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the president first pointed to a protest which took place in Chicago last Sunday and descended into violence.

“Seventeen officers were injured in Chicago,” Mr Trump told his supporters, at the Wittman Regional Airport on Monday.

The president then referred to a weekend in June with a high number of shootings in the city.

“During a weekend spree where 78 people were shot, and 18 died, that’s worse than Afghanistan, which we’re getting out of,” the president added.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, 18 people were killed in the city over the weekend beginning 26 June.

“That’s worse than Iraq, which we’re almost out of,” the president continued.

Trump also said the Chicago violence was worse than Syria, before going on to claim that US forces took the country’s oil. He has repeatedly said that he wanted US troops to secure oil in Syria, which could constitute a war crime.

“That’s worse than Syria, which we’re out of,” the president continued. “We kept the oil, but that’s ok, we don’t have to talk about it...”

It was not immediately clear from the speech what kind of comparison Mr Trump was trying to make when he referenced the Chicago violence.

Figures for how many people were shot in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria in July on any given day are difficult to come by. But analysis of a number of reports suggests that more people died in each of the three countries above in July, than died in Chicago during the same period.

Some 106 have people were killed in Chicago in July this year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

At least 573 people were shot in the same time period, according to the outlet.

According to a New York Times report, 391 people were killed in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan in July 2020.

Some 282 of those were pro-government forces, while 109 were civilians, the NYT report states.

The Iraq Body Count website, which records conflict deaths in the country, estimates that at least 473,231 people have been killed since the war started in 2003.

Between 185,231 and 208,214 of those deaths were civilians, according to the website. Around 47 of those civilian deaths were recorded in July 2020.

Meanwhile in Syria, 107 civilians, including 26 children and 11 women, were killed in July 2020, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.