Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi
Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist
October 7, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40824
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Summary
This report presents U.S. military casualties as well as governmental and nongovernmental
estimates of Iraqi civilian, police, and security forces casualties.
For several years, there were few estimates from any national or international government source
regarding Iraqi civilian, police, and security forces casualties. Now, however, several Iraqi
ministries have released monthly or total casualty statistics. The U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD) releases the monthly trend of Iraqi civilian, police, and security forces deaths. In addition,
the United Nations Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has charted the
trend of civilian casualties from August 2007 to April 2009, and the United Nations Assistance
Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported on the number of deaths by suicide bombers in 2008.
Nongovernmental sources also have released various estimates of Iraqi civilian, police, and
security forces casualties. This report includes estimates from the Associated Press, the Brookings
Institution, Iraq Body Count, the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, Iraq Family Health Survey, the
most recent study published in the Lancet, and the British survey firm, Opinion Research
Business.
Because the estimates of Iraqi casualties contained in this report are based on varying time
periods and have been created using differing methodologies, readers should exercise caution
when using them and should look to them as guideposts rather than as statements of fact.
This report will be updated as needed.

Congressional Research Service

Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Contents
U.S. Casualties............................................................................................................................ 1
Iraqi Casualties ........................................................................................................................... 2
Iraq Ministries’ Data ............................................................................................................. 2
U.S. Department of Defense Data.......................................................................................... 5
Nongovernmental Data ......................................................................................................... 7

Figures
Figure 1. Iraq Ministries: Civilian and Police/Security Forces Deaths, January 2008-
September, 2010 ...................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2. Department of Defense: Iraqi Civilian Deaths, January 2006-May 2010....................... 6
Figure 3. Department of Defense: Iraq Security Forces Deaths, January 2006-May 2010............ 7

Tables
Table 1. Operation New Dawn, U.S. Fatalities and Wounded....................................................... 1
Table 2. Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. Fatalities and Wounded .................................................. 2
Table 3. Iraq Ministries: Civilian and Police/Security Forces Deaths, January 2008-
September 2010 ....................................................................................................................... 3
Table 4. Nongovernmental Iraqi Civilian and Police/Security Forces Casualty Estimates ............ 9

Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 10

Congressional Research Service

Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

U.S. Casualties
On August 31, 2010, President Obama announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq had ended.
A transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission: “advising and
assisting Iraq’s Security Forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions, and
protecting our civilians.”1 This mission is now called Operation New Dawn (OND). Table 1
provides statistics on fatalities and wounds in OND.
Table 2 provides statistics on fatalities and wounds during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began
on March 19, 2003, and ended August 31, 2010. Statistics may be revised as circumstances are
investigated and as all records are processed through the U.S. military’s casualty system. More
frequent updates are available at DOD’s website at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ under
“Casualty Update.”
A detailed casualty summary that includes data on deaths by cause, as well as statistics on
soldiers wounded in action, is available at DOD’s website at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/
personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm.
Table 1. Operation New Dawn, U.S. Fatalities and Wounded
As of October 1, 2010, 10 a.m. EST
Wounded in
Wounded in
Action,
Action, Not
Returned to
Returned to
Total
Deaths
Hostilea Non-Hostileb
Duty
Duty
U.S. Military
6
2
4
14
16
U.S. DOD
Civilian
— — —

Totals
6
2
4
Total wounded: 30
Source: http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
a. According to the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, as amended through 31
August 2005, a “hostile casualty” is a victim of a terrorist activity or a casualty as the result of combat or
attack by any force against U.S. forces, available at http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA43918.
b. The above-named reference defines a “non-hostile casualty” as a casualty that is not directly attributable to
hostile action or terrorist activity, such as casualties due to the elements, self-inflicted wounds, or combat
fatigue.

1 The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the End of
Combat Operations in Iraq, August 31, 2010, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/remarks-
president-address-nation-end-combat-operations-iraq.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Table 2. Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. Fatalities and Wounded
As of October 1, 2010, 10 a.m. EST
Wounded in
Wounded in
Action,
Action, Not
Returned to
returned to
Total
Deaths
Hostilea Non-hostileb
Duty
Duty
U.S. Military
4,408 3,483 925 19,051 12,883
U.S. DOD
Civilian
13 9 4


Totals
4,421
3,492
929
Total wounded: 31,934
Source: http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
a. According to the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, as amended through 31
August 2005, a “hostile casualty” is a victim of a terrorist activity or a casualty as the result of combat or
attack by any force against U.S. forces, available at http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA43918.
b. The above-named reference defines a “non-hostile casualty” as a casualty that is not directly attributable to
hostile action or terrorist activity, such as casualties due to the elements, self-inflicted wounds, or combat
fatigue.

Iraqi Casualties
Iraq Ministries’ Data
In October 2009, the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights published a new report with a tally of 51,675
“martyred victims,” or civilians who have died and been identified, and 34,019 “bodies found,” or
civilians who have died but who were not identified, for a total of 85,694 civilian deaths from
2004 through 2008. 2 This total includes only those deaths due to terrorist attacks, defined as
“direct bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and forced displacement of the population.”3 In
other words, the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights does not include in its total any civilian deaths
that may have been due to coalition occupation or fighting between militias within Iraq.
Some media sources misrepresented the data by seeming to confuse the “bodies found” category
and adding it to the total of civilian deaths, which already included the “bodies found” number.
In addition to the report by the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Defense, Ministry
of the Interior, and Ministry of Health have, on an irregular and incomplete schedule, reported
monthly death statistics for Iraqi civilians, police, and security forces. The process of collecting
and distributing such data on the deaths of civilians, police, and security forces seems now to
have become more standardized, and over the past year, all three ministries have regularly
released similar information to the news media, though not in the form of official press releases.4

2 Rebecca Santana, “85,000 Iraqis killed in almost 5 years of war,” Associated Press, October 15, 2009.
3 Iraq Ministry of Human Rights, “The Mechanism of a Comprehensive Periodic Review/Iraq,” October 2009.
4 News reports continue to differ slightly. For instance, August 2009 articles differed on whether there were 223 or 224
Iraqi civilian deaths in July 2009. Also, data from April and June 2008 are missing.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

These Ministries have not, however, provided estimates of the total number of civilian deaths.
The Ministries’ statistics are provided in Table 3 and, in chart form, in Figure 1, below.
Table 3. Iraq Ministries: Civilian and Police/Security Forces Deaths,
January 2008-September 2010
Police/Security
Date Civilian
Forces
Sources
January 2008
463
78
“Iraqi civilian deaths down in Jan to 23 month
low,” Dow Jones International News, February 1,
2008.
February 2008
633
85
Paul Tait, “Iraq Wrapup 3 -Iraq casualties rise
again after Qaeda bombs,” Reuters, March 1,
2008.
March 2008
923
156
“Iraqi casualties at highest level since mid-2007,”
Reuters, April 1, 2008.
April 2008
N/A
N/A

May 2008
504
59
“Iraq violence dips as U.S. records lowest
monthly toll,” Agence France Presse, June 1, 2008.
June 2008
N/A
N/A

July 2008
387
78
“Iraq monthly tol down,” Agence France Presse,
September 1, 2008.
August 2008
383
48
“Iraq monthly tol down,” Agence France Presse,
September 1, 2008.
September 2008
359
81
“Iraq violence kills 440 in September,” Agence
France Presse, October 1, 2008.
October 2008
278
40
Tina Susman, “World; U.S., Iraqi deaths dip in
October,” Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2008.
November 2008
297
43
“Iraq death tol rises in November,” Agence
France Presse, December 1, 2008.
December 2008
240
76
Salam Faraj, “Iraq hails lowest monthly death tol
in nearly three years,” Agence France Presse,
January 1, 2009.
January 2009
140
51
“Iraq death tol ‘lowest since invasion,’” Agence
France Presse, February 1, 2009.
February 2009
211
47
Ammar Karim, “Iraq death tol rises to 258 in
February: ministries,” Agence France Presse, March
1, 2009.
March 2009
185
67
“March violence claims claims 252 Iraqi lives,”
Agence France Presse, April 1, 2009.
April 2009
290
65
“April tol in Iraq the deadliest for seven
months,” Agence France Presse, May 1, 2009.
May 2009
134
31
Sameer N. Yacoub, “May sees dramatic drop in
Iraq deaths following bloodiest month of the
year; Bombing kills four in Baghdad Monday,
signaling capital is far from secure,” Associated
Press, June 2, 2009.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Police/Security
Date Civilian
Forces
Sources
June 2009
370
68
Liz Sly, ”June death tol of Iraqis is highest in 11
months; The sharp increase in fatalities could be
tied to the U.S. troop withdrawal from cities,”
The Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2009, p. A-24
July 2009
223
52
“Iraqi death tol down in July: ministries,” Agence
France Presse, August 1, 2009.
August 2009
393
63
“Iraq death tol in August highest in 13 months,”
Agence France Presse, September 1, 2009.
September 2009
125
78
“Iraq death tol fal s by half in September:
officials,” Agence France Presse, October 1, 20009.
October 2009
343
67
“Iraq death tol doubles in October: officials”
Agence France Presse, November 2, 2009.
November 2009
88
24
Ammar Karin, “Iraq November death tol lowest
since US invasion,” Agence France Presse,
December 1, 2009.
December 2009
306
61
“Iraq death tol in 2009 lowest since the
invasion,” Agence France Presse, January 1, 2010.
January 2010
135
N/A
“Iraqi civilian deaths drop sharply in January,”
Reuters, February 1, 2010. This report did not
distinguish between civilian and security forces
deaths; we have put the total deaths, 135, in the
civilian casualties column.
February 2010
211
141
Prashant Rao, “Iraq death tol spikes ahead of
election,” Agence France Presse, March 1, 2010.
March 2010
216
151
“Iraq says March deadliest month so far this
year,” Agence France Presse, April 1, 2010.
April 2010
274
54
“Iraq civilian death toll rises sharply in April,”
Reuters, May 1, 2010.
May 2010
275
35
“Iraqi civilian toll in May highest this year,” Agence
France Presse, June 1, 2010.
June 2010
204
80
“Bombs and gunmen kill three Iraqi civilians,”
Agence France Presse, July 1, 2010.
July 2010
396
139
Prashant Rao, “US ‘refutes' July death tol in Iraq,”
Agence France Presse, August 1, 2010.a
August 2010
295
131
“426 killed in Iraq as US ended combat mission,”
Agence France Presse, September 1, 2010.
September 2010
185
88
“War casualities in Iraq decline in September,”
Reuters, October 1, 2010.
Totals 9,466
2,237

Source: Prepared by CRS using noted sources.
Notes: Does not include data from the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights report.
a. The United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) took the unusual step of refuting these numbers, stating that 222
people total were killed in Iraqi violence in July 2010. United States Forces – Iraq, “United States Forces- Iraq
July 2010 casualties statistics ,“ Press Release 20100801-01, August 1, 2010, at http://www.usf-iraq.com/news/
press-releases/corrected-copy-july-2010-casualties-statistics.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Figure 1. Iraq Ministries: Civilian and Police/Security Forces Deaths,
January 2008-September, 2010
1200
1000
800
s
Civilian
th
a

600
Police/Security Forces
De
Total Iraqis
400
200
0
8
8
9
9
0
0
0
-0
08
09
r-
-08
-0
-0
-1
-1
ct
r-
ct-09
r-1
Jan
Ap
Jul-0 O
Jan
Ap
Jul
O
Jan
Ap
Jul
Date

Source: Iraqi government figures as reported in various news stories; see “Sources” column in Table 3, above.
Note: Does not include data from the Iraq Ministry of Human Rights report.
U.S. Department of Defense Data
DOD also tracks Iraqi civilian, police, and security forces deaths, but they only release trends and
not the statistics themselves. Readers should therefore note that DOD has not released the specific
numbers associated with either Figure 2, on Iraqi civilian deaths, or Figure 3, on Iraqi security
forces deaths, and that instead these charts are estimated renditions of DOD’s original charts.
DOD’s tracking has shown an overall decline in war-related deaths from 2008 through 2009.
Until the September 2009 quarterly DOD report, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, two
civilian casualty estimates were given: one, a combination of coalition and Iraqi estimates, and
the other (much lower) estimate from coalition sources alone. Now, however,
As a consequence of the movement of U.S. combat forces out of Iraqi cities on June 30,
2009, the United States has reduced visibility and ability to verify Iraqi reports. Without a
robust U.S. presence, United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I) metrics include host nation reports
that are not independently verifiable. The overall trends between U.S. force data and host
nation data are very close, but some values may differ. Current charts show a combination of
U.S. and host-nation reported data. The combination of these reports causes baseline
numbers to increase, making it difficult to compare these charts with those from previous
publications of this report ... 5

5 Department of Defense, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2010, http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/
June_9204_Sec_Def_signed_20_Aug_2010.pdf, p. iii.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

In practical terms, this has meant that, in addition to getting rid of the lower coalition casualty-
only estimate for civilians, DOD has also revised all of the security forces casualty estimates
upward. For instance, in a previous update of this report and using DOD’s charts, it was estimated
that there had been 30 Iraqi security forces deaths in May 2009. However, in a later version of the
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq report using DOD’s revised figures, it was estimated that
there were 90 Iraqi security forces deaths in the same month.
Figure 2. Department of Defense: Iraqi Civilian Deaths,
January 2006-May 2010
4000
3500
3000
2500
s
h

2000
eat
D

1500
1000
500
0
6
6
7
7
7
8
8
9
9
9
0
0
-06
-06
-07
-08
-08
-09
pr-0
ct
pr-0
ct-0
pr-0
ct
pr-0
ct-0
pr-1
Jan-0 A
Jul
O
Jan-0 A
Jul
O
Jan-0 A
Jul
O
Jan-0 A
Jul
O
Jan-1 A
Date

Source: CRS rendition of DOD graph, as derived from Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2010, p.29, at
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/June_9204_Sec_Def_signed_20_Aug_2010.pdf.
Notes: This graph uses USF-I J5 Assessments SIGACTS III Database (U.S. and Iraqi Reports) as of June 5, 2010.
Does not include civilian deaths due to accidents unrelated to friendly or enemy actions. According to Measuring
Stability and Security in Iraq, “As a consequence of the movement of U.S. combat forces out of Iraqi cities on June
30, 2009, the United States has reduced visibility and ability to verify Iraqi reports. Without a robust U.S.
presence, United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I) metrics include host nation reports that are not independently
verifiable. The overall trends between U.S. force data and host nation data are very close, but some values may
differ. Current charts show a combination of U.S. and host-nation reported data. The combination of these
reports causes baseline numbers to increase, making it difficult to compare these charts with those from
previous publications of this report.”
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

Figure 3. Department of Defense: Iraq Security Forces Deaths,
January 2006-May 2010
700
600
500
s
400
h
eat
D

300
200
100
0
06
6
7
7
7
8
9
9
0
-06
-06
07
-0
08
-08
-08
09
10
ct
ct-0
ct
l-09
ct-0
pr-1
Jan-
pril-0
pril-0
pril-0
pri
Jul-0
A
July
O
Jan- A
July
O
Jan- A
July
O
Jan- A
O
Jan- A
Date

Source: CRS rendition of DOD graph, as derived from Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, June 2010, p.28, at
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/June_9204_Sec_Def_signed_20_Aug_2010.pdf.
Notes: According to Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, this chart uses “USF-I J5 Assessments SIGACTS III
Database (U.S. and Iraqi Reports), DoD News Releases, and CIDNE as of June 5, 2010. Includes deaths within
Iraq only … As a result of the June 30, 2009 withdrawal from cities, USF-I now relies on host nation reporting as
the primary data source. Current charts show a combination of U.S. and host nation reported data. The
combination of these reports causes baseline numbers to increase, making it difficult to directly compare these
charts with those presented prior to June 2009.”
Nongovernmental Data
In 2006, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Baghdad’s Al-Mustansiriya University
published their most recent cluster study on Iraqi civilian casualties, commonly referred to in the
press as “the Lancet study” because it was published in the British medical journal of that name.
The study surveyed 47 clusters and reported an estimate of between 426,369 and 793,663 Iraqi
civilian deaths from violent causes since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom to July 2006.6
In a more recent cluster study, a team of investigators from the Federal Ministry of Health in
Baghdad, the Kurdistan Ministry of Planning, the Kurdistan Ministry of Health, the Central
Organization for Statistics and Information Technology in Baghdad, and the World Health
Organization formed the Iraq Family Health Survey (IFHS) Study Group to research violence-
related mortality in Iraq.7 In their nationally representative cluster study, interviewers visited

6 Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy et al., “Mortality After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A Cross-Sectional
Cluster Sample Survey,” The Lancet, October 21, 2006, 368 (9545), pp. 1421-1429.
7 Iraq Family Health Survey Study Group, “Violence-Related Mortality in Iraq from 2002 to 2006,” The New England
Journal of Medicine
, January 31, 2008, pp. 484-492.
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Iraq Casualties: U.S. Military Forces and Iraqi Civilians, Police, and Security Forces

89.4% of 1,086 household clusters; the household response rate was 96.2%. They concluded that
there had been an estimated 151,000 violence-related deaths from March 2003 through June 2006
and that violence was the main cause of death for men between the ages of 15 and 59 years
during the first three years after the 2003 invasion. This study seems to be widely cited for
violence-related mortality rates in Iraq. Neither the Lancet study nor the IFHS study distinguish
between different victims of violence, such as civilians versus police or security force members.
The studies do not reflect trends that occurred during the period of the most intense civil violence
from early 2006 through the end of 2008.
In 2007, a British firm, Opinion Business Research (OBR), conducted a survey in Iraq in which
they asked 2,411 Iraqis, “How many members of your household, if any, have died as a result of
the conflict in Iraq since 2003 (i.e., as a result of violence rather than a natural death such as old
age)? Please note that I mean those who were actually living under your roof?” Extrapolating
from their results, OBR estimated “that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the
conflict which started in 2003.”8
The Iraq Body Count (IBC) website bases its online casualty estimates on media reports of
casualties, some of which may involve security forces as well as civilians. 9 Using media reports
as a base for casualty estimates can entail errors: some deaths may not be reported in the media,
while other deaths may be reported more than once. The IBC documents each of the civilian
casualties it records with a media source and provides a minimum and a maximum estimate. As
of October 6, 2010, the IBC estimated that between 98,170 and 107,152 civilians had died as a
result of military action. In a separate analysis of its data, the IBC also estimated that, between
January 2006 and November 2008, 4,884 Iraqi police had been killed.10
The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count (ICCC) is another nonprofit group that tracks Iraqi civilian and
Iraqi security forces deaths using an IBC-like method of posting media reports of deaths. ICCC,
like IBC, is prone to the kind of errors likely when using media reports for data: some deaths may
not be reported in the media, whereas other deaths may be reported more than once. The ICCC
estimates that there were 48,796 civilian deaths from March 2005 through October 6, 2010, and
8,433 security forces were killed from January 2005 to October 6, 2010.11
The Associated Press (AP) has kept a database of Iraqi civilian, police, and security forces dead
and wounded since April 2005. These numbers are considered by AP to be a minimum, based on
AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
The AP tallies civilian, Iraqi military, and Iraqi police deaths each day as reported by police,
hospital officials, morgue workers, and verifiable witness accounts. The security personnel tally
includes Iraqi military, police and police recruits, and bodyguards. Insurgent deaths are not
included. According to the AP database, between April 28, 2005, and September 2, 2010, 41,120
Iraqi civilians and 8,094 Iraqi police and security forces have died.12

8 The Opinion Business Research, “New analysis ‘confirms’ 1 million+ Iraq casualties,” January 28, 2008, at
http://www.opinion.co.uk.
9 Iraq Body Count at http://www.iraqbodycount.net. IBC is a nongovernmental organization managed by researchers
and volunteers.
10 Iraq Body Count at http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/surge-2008/.
11 Iraq Coalition Casualty Count at http://icasualties.org/Iraq/IraqiDeaths.aspx. ICCC is a nongovernmental
organization managed by researchers and volunteers.
12 CRS discussion with the Associated Press, September 2, 2009.”
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Finally, the Brookings Institution has used modified numbers from the U.N. Human Rights
Report
, the Iraq Body Count, the U.S. Central Command’s General David Petraeus’s
congressional testimony given on September 10-11, 2007,13 and other sources to develop its own
composite estimate for Iraqi civilians, police, and security forces who have died by violence. By
combining all of these sources by date, the Brookings Institution estimates that between May
2003 and April 2010, 112,625 Iraqi civilians died and between June 2003 and September 30,
2010, 9,721 Iraqi police and security forces died.14
Table 4 provides Iraqi civilian, security forces and police officers casualty estimates from
nongovernmental sources, as well as an estimate of deaths using the charts in Figure 2 and
Figure 3. These estimates are based on varying time periods and have been created using
differing methodologies, and therefore readers should exercise caution when using and comparing
these statistics.
Table 4. Nongovernmental Iraqi Civilian and Police/Security Forces
Casualty Estimates
Source Civilians
Police/Security
Forces
Iraq Body Count
98,170 – 107,152a
4,884b (Police only)
March 19, 2003 – October 6, 2010
January 1, 2006 - November 30, 2008
Iraq Coalition Casualty Countc
48,796
8,433 (Security Forces only)
March 2005 – October 6, 2010
January 2005 – October 6, 2010
Associated Pressd
41,120 killed
8,094 killed
53,219 wounded
8,771 wounded
April 28, 2005 – October 6, 2009
April 28, 2005 – October 6, 2009
Brookings Iraq Index 112,625e
9,721f
May 2003 - April 2010
June 2003 – April 30, 2010
Estimate using the Multi-National
58,115 (Coalition and Iraqi Reports)g
12,040h
Corps - Iraq report, Measuring

Stability and Security in Iraq, March
January 2006 - May 2010
(Security Forces only)
2009
January 2006 - May 2010
Opinion Business Researchi “Over
1,000,000”

March 2003 - September 2007
The Iraq Family Health Survey
151,000

(the “WHO study”)j
(May include police and/or security
forces)
March 2003 - June 2006

13 Reproduced in the Department of State Iraq Weekly Status Report, September 12, 2007, at http://2001-
2009.state.gov/documents/organization/92176.pdf.
14 Brookings Institution, Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, September 30, 2010,
at http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Centers/Saban/Iraq%20Index/index.pdf.
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Source Civilians
Police/Security
Forces
The Lancet, “Mortality after the
426,369 - 793,663

2003 Invasion of Iraq”k
(May include police and/or security
forces)
March 19, 2003 - July 31, 2006
Sources: Prepared by CRS using noted sources below. These estimates are based on varying time periods and
have been created using differing methodologies, and therefore readers should exercise caution when using and
comparing these statistics.
a. Iraq Body Count, June 11, 2010, at http://www.iraqbodycount.org/.
b. Iraq Body Count, June 11, 2010, at http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/surge-2008/.
c. Iraq Coalition Casualties Count, June 11, 2010, at http://icasualties.org/Iraq/IraqiDeaths.aspx.
d. CRS discussion with Associated Press, September 2, 2010. The Associated Press notes: “These numbers are
considered a minimum, based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go
unreported or uncounted. We tally civilian, Iraqi military and Iraqi police deaths each day as reported by
police, hospital officials, morgue workers and verifiable witness accounts. The security personnel include Iraqi
military, police and police recruits, and bodyguards. Insurgent deaths are not included.”
e. Brookings Institution, Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, September 30, 2010,
p. 3, at http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Centers/Saban/Iraq%20Index/index.pdf.
f.
Ibid, p. 5.
g. Derived from Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, March 2010, p .29. http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/
June_9204_Sec_Def_signed_20_Aug_2010.pdf.
h. Ibid, p. 28.
i.
The Opinion Business Research, “New analysis ‘confirms’ 1 million+ Iraq casualties,” January 28, 2008, at
http://www.opinion.co.uk.
j.
Iraq Family Health Survey Study Group, “Violence-Related Mortality in Iraq from 2002 to 2006,” The New
England Journal of Medicine, January 31, 2008, pp. 484-492.
k. Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy et al., “Mortality After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A Cross-
Sectional Cluster Sample Survey,” The Lancet, October 21, 2006, 368 (9545), pp. 1421-1429.


Author Contact Information

Hannah Fischer

Information Research Specialist
hfischer@crs.loc.gov, 7-8989


Congressional Research Service
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