Order Code RS22532
Updated August 29, 2008
Iraqi Police and Security Forces
Casualties Estimates
Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
This report presents various governmental and non-governmental 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: U.S. Casualties, and has released the
monthly pattern of Iraqi security forces deaths. For information on Iraqi civilian deaths,
see CRS Report RS22537, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates. Because these estimates are
based on varying time periods and have been created using differing methodologies,
readers should exercise caution when using them and should look on them as guideposts
rather than as statements of fact. This report will be updated as needed.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has recently released a chart (see Figure 1)
showing Iraqi Security Forces deaths over time; it has not released the specific numbers
associated with the chart, and there have been conflicting reports of deaths from news
sources and non-profits. Bearing this caveat, Table 1, below, provides Iraqi security
forces and police officers casualty estimates from non-governmental sources. These
estimates are based on varying time periods and have been created using differing
methodologies, and therefore readers should exercise caution when using these statistics.

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CRS-2
Figure 1. Iraqi Security Forces Deaths, January 2006 - May 2008
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Source: CRS rendition of DOD graph, as derived from the Multi-National Corps - Iraq report, Measuring
Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2008, [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/
Master_16_June_08_%20FINAL_SIGNED%20.pdf].
On November 29, 2007, the White House announced a 40% drop in Iraqi Security
Force casualties since the surge operations began in June.1 However, according to Major
General Kevin J. Bergner in a Defense Department news briefing, the “Iraqi security
forces in general, the Iraqi army and Iraqi police, [are] increasingly the first line of
defense. They are suffering casualties, suffering losses frequently at two to three times
that of the coalition.”2 Listed in the table below are estimates offered by non-profits and
media sources of Iraqi police and security forces casualties.
1 White House Press Release, Just the Facts: 2007 War Funding by the Numbers, November 29,
2007.
2 Kevin J. Bergner, Major General Kevin J. Bergner Holds Defense Department News Briefing,
CQ Transcriptions, December 19, 2007.

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CRS-3
Table 1. Iraqi Security Forces and Police Officers Deaths Estimates
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count estimate of security forces and police killed,
8,528a
June 2003 - August 11, 2008
Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, estimate of security forces and police killed,
8,503b
June 2003 - July 30, 2008
Associated Press, estimate of security forces killed,
6,453c
April 28, 2005 - August 10, 2008
CRS estimate using the Multi-National Corps - Iraq report, Measuring
approx.
Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2008
5,484d
January 2006 - May 2008
Notes:
a. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, “Iraqi Police/Military,” at [http://icasualties.org].
b. Brookings Institution, Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, at
[http://www.brookings.edu/iraqindex], p. 6.
c. CRS communication with Associated Press, August 11, 2008.
d. Multi-National Corps - Iraq, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2008, p.21, at
[http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/Master_16_June_08_%20FINAL_SIGNED%20.pdf].
Table 2. Estimates of Wounded Iraqi Security Forces
and Police Officers
Associated Press, estimate of security forces wounded,
7,432a
April 28, 2005 - August 10, 2008
Notes:
a. CRS communication with Associated Press, August 11, 2008.

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