Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Deaths In Iraq Return To Civil War Levels In June 2014

 
June 2014 has seen open fighting between the insurgents and government forces in six of Iraq’s 18 provinces. There have also been continued terrorist attacks in Baghdad. All together that has led to the highest casualty figures since the civil war years. Iraq Body Count (IBC) had 1,934 fatalities. It counts civilians, police and members of the Sahwa, but not soldiers. Iraq’s Defense, Interior, and Health Ministries reported 1,922 deaths. Those were the highest amounts since August 2007 when IBC had 2,481 and Baghdad had 2,138. 2,417 was the figure given in a U.N. press release. That did not include Anbar, because the violence there has kept the United Nation out of the province. That was the most since March 2008’s 2,011. Agence France Presse did not have its numbers totaled yet by the end of June. Finally Musings On Iraq recorded 2,719. The real ferocity of the current violence is better shown by the daily averages. IBC and the Iraqi government both had 64 people killed in Iraq per day in June. That was followed by the U.N.’s 80 per day, and Musings On Iraq’s 90. In comparison, IBC, Baghdad and the United Nations only had 30-33 deaths per day in April, while Musings On Iraq had 47 showing how casualties have doubled during the current insurgent offensive.

Even these new annual highs only capture part of the picture for the month. For one, the Iraqi government has stopped mentioning its losses during the fighting. Everyday it reports on firefights with insurgents, but it says nothing about its casualties. With Baghdad rushing in new recruits with only a few days of training it’s likely they are suffering high losses, but nothing can be confirmed due to the media blackout on the topic. Secondly, the violence has kept journalists away from many areas so civilian casualties are obviously being missed as well. Reporting on Iraqi deaths is never complete due to the situation on the ground in the country. Now with fierce battles across central Iraq the ability to cover all of the dead and wounded has become even more difficult, but at the same time they are one of the only hard numbers that can be used to track the current security crisis.

Deaths In Iraq 2003-2013
Month/Year
Iraq Body Count
Avg. Daily Deaths
Iraqi Ministries
Avg. Daily Deaths
United Nations
Avg. Daily Deaths
Agence France Presse
Avg. Daily Deaths
Musings On Iraq
Avg. Daily Deaths
2003
4,675
19.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2004
11,608
31.8l
11,313
30.99
-
-
-
-
-
-
2005
16,186
44.2
15,817
43.3
-
-
-
-
-
-
2006
29,144
79.8
32,622
89.3
34,452
94.3
-
-
-
-
2007
25,519
69.9
19,155
52.4
-
-
-
-
-
-
2008
9,839
26.9
9,046
24.7
11,536
31.6
-
-
-
-
2009
5,132
14.0
3,682
10.0
4,611
12.6
-
-
-
-
2010
4,109
11.2
3,949
10.8
4,855
13.3
-
-
-
-
2011
4,147
11.3
2,781
7.6
4,150
11.3
-
-
-
-
2012
4,573
12.5
2,174
5.9
3,878
10.6
1,531
(7 mo.)
7.1
-
-
Jan. 2013
357
11.5
177
5.7
319
10.2
246
7.9
-
-
Feb.
360
12.7
136
4.8
418
14.9
220
7.8
-
-
Mar.
403
13.0
163
5.2
456
14.7
271
8.7
-
-
Apr.
545
18.1
208
6.9
712
23.7
461
15.3
-
-
May
888
28.6
681
21.9
1,045
33.7
614
19.8
-
-
Jun.
659
21.9
240
8.0
761
25.3
452
15.0
-
-
Jul.
1,145
36.9
989
31.9
1,057
34.0
875
28.2
-
-
Aug.
1,012
32.6
365
11.7
804
25.9
693
22.3
-
-
Sep.
1,221
40.7
971
32.3
979
32.6
880
29.3
-
-
Oct.
1,095
35.3
964
31.0
979
31.5
743
23.9
-
-
Nov.
903
30.1
948/
1,121
31.6/
37.3
659
21.9
693
23.1
-
-
Dec.
983
31.7
1,001
32.2
759
24.4
668
21.5
-
-
2013 Totals
9,571
25.9
6,843/
7,016
18.7/
19.2
8,948
24.5
6,818
18.6
-
-
Jan. 2014
1,076
34.7
1,013
32.6
733*
23.6
991
31.9
1,483
47.8
Feb.
930
33.2
790
28.2
703*
25.1
747
26.6
1,274
45.5
Mar.
1,009
32.5
1,004
32.3
748
24.1
512
16.5
1,606
51.8
Apr.
1,013
33.7
1,009
33.6
885
29.5
796
26.5
1,456
48.5
May
1,027
33.1
938
30.2
994
32.0
1,075
34.6
1,468
47.5
Jun.
1,934
64.4
1,922
64.0
2,417*
80.5
N/A
N/A
2,719
90.6
2014
Totals
6,989
38.6
6,676
36.8
6,480
35.8
N/A
N/A
9,995
55.2
* Figures do not include Anbar


SOURCES

Agence France Presse, “Iraq says death toll in June highest since May 2007,” 6/30/14

Glanz, James, “Civilian Death Toll Falls in Baghdad but Rises Across Iraq,” New York Times, 9/2/07

Iraq Body Count

Nickolay Mladenov, “Iraq Casualties Increase Dramatically in June,” 7/1/14

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