Order Code RS22532
November 17, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Iraqi Police and Security Forces
Casualty Estimates
Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
This report presents various estimates of Iraqi police and security forces fatalities.
The Department of Defense (DOD) regularly updates total U.S. military deaths and
wounded statistics from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as reflected in CRS Report
RS21578, Iraq: Summary of U.S. Casualties. However, no Iraqi or U.S. government
office regularly releases statistics on Iraqi police or security forces deaths. Statistics on
these topics are sometimes available through alternative sources, such as nonprofit
organizations, or through statements made by officials to the press. Readers may also
consult CRS Report RS22441, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates.
Many of the estimates included in this report are incomplete or have been released
by non-governmental sources. Because these estimates are based on varying time
periods and have been created using differing methodologies, readers should exercise
caution when using these statistics and should look on them as guideposts rather than
as statements of historical fact. This report will be updated as needed.
Iraqi Police and Security Forces Casualty Statistics
Neither the Iraqi or the U.S. government has yet released authoritative numbers
concerning the total number of Iraqi police and security forces deaths during Operation
Iraqi Freedom. The following selected statistics represent estimates from nonprofits and
senior U.S. officials on Iraqi police and security forces casualty numbers. In addition to
these numbers, in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld remarked that Iraqi security forces (possibly excluding police) are
taking casualties, both in terms of deaths and wounded, at “roughly twice the rate of all
coalition forces.”1 This estimate may imply that, from May 1, 2003, to November 8,
2006, over 6,100 Iraqi security forces have died and over 40,000 have been wounded.
1 Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, “Donald H. Rumsfeld Delivers Remarks to the
Council on Foreign Relations,” Feb. 17, 2006, as released by the Department of Defense.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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CRS-2
Iraqi Security Forces Personnel and Police
Officers Killed
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count estimate of Security Forces and Police
5,736a
killed, June 2003 - November 14, 2006
Iraq Interior Ministry, Police killed and wounded in October 2006
119 killed
185 woundedb
General George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, estimate of
300c
Police and Security Forces killed, September 24, 2006 - October 24,
2006 (the month of Ramadan)
Major General Joseph Peterson, U.S. commander in charge of Iraqi
4,000 killed
Police training, estimate of Police killed and wounded,
8,000 woundedd
September 2004 - October 5, 2006
Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, estimate of Security Forces and
5,715e
Police killed, June 2003 - November 5, 2006
Associated Press, estimate of Security Forces and Police killed,
805f
January 2006 - June 2006
Major General Peterson’s spokesperson, estimate of Iraqi Police
1,497 killed
Officers killed and wounded in 2005
3,256 woundedg
Notes:
a. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, “Iraqi Police/Military,” [http://icasualties.org].
b. Sameer N. Yacoub, “Iraqi Interior Ministry says 119 policemen killed, 185 wounded in October,”
Associated Press, November 2, 2006.
c. States News Service, “Transcript Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey During Joint
Press Conference,” October 24, 2006.
d. CNN.com, “More than 12,000 Iraqi police casualties in 2 years,” October 6, 2006.
e. Brookings Institution, Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, at
[http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf], p. 8.
f. Nick Wadhams, “Iraq civilian toll spikes to nearly 6,000,” Associated Press, July 19, 2006.
g. Eric Schmitt, “2,000 more M.P.’s will help train the Iraqi police,” New York Times, Jan. 16, 2006, p. A1.
For regular updates of U.S. military casualties, see CRS Report RS21578, Iraq:
Summary of U.S. Casualties, by JoAnne O’Bryant.

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