Deaths In Iraq Take Jump In August 2009

The ebb and flow of violence in Iraq in 2009 has been for deaths to go up and down every month. January 2009 saw the lowest deaths in the Iraq war up to that date because of the provincial elections. In February deaths went back up, to drop in March, and then go up again in April. That pattern has continued into August 2009. July saw fewer deaths than June, and August saw an increase from July. Iraq Body Count, as usual, had the highest figure of 537 killed in August. That was followed in descending order by Iraq’s ministries with 456, icasualties with 439, and the Associated Press with 425. Iraq’s ministries also reported 1,741 wounded last month, an increase from the 1,085 wounded in July. Around three-quarters of the casualties in August were caused by large bombings. According to press accounts there were 44 mass casualty bombings in August resulting in 359 killed and 2,252 wounded. The largest event was the August 19, 2009 bombing of the Finance and Foreign Ministries that killed 101 and wounded 1,203. There is not a direct correlation between attacks and casualties in Iraq however. July saw almost three times as many bombings as June, but that month had more deaths than July. Overall, violence and deaths have not reached 2008 levels, but months with high casualties are up to last year’s counts, while monthly attacks are down to one-third the level of the last quarter of 2008.

Iraqi Deaths

	Iraq Body Count	icasualties.Org	Iraqi Ministries	Associated Press
July 08	584	419	851	N/A
Aug. 08	592	311	N/A	475
Sep. 08	535	366	440	503
Oct. 08	528	288	317	N/A
Nov. 08	473	317	340	N/A
Dec. 08	522	320	316	N/A
Jan. 09	276	187	191	242
Feb. 09	343	202	258	288
March 09	416	278	252	335
April 09	484	347	355	371
May 09	332	188	165	225
June 09	488	367	437	447
July 09	418	240	275	309
Aug. 09	537	439	456	425
Last 6 months of 2008 Average	539.0	336.8	452.8 5 of 6 months	N/A
First 6 months of 2009 Average	389.8	261.0	276.5	317.5

Number of Bombings and Casualty Statistics – April to July 2009

	Bombings	Deaths	Wounded
April 2009	21	198 + 32 Iranians	497 + 105 Iranians + 10 Americans
May 2009	9	111	262
June 2009	14	174	517
July 2009	35	180	655
August 2009	44	359	2,252

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, "Car bomb kills 20 outside Shiite mosque in Iraq," 8/7/09

- "Iraq death toll in August highest in 13 months: officials," 9/1/09

Ahmed, Hamid, "String of bombings kill at least 43 in Iraq," Associated Press, 8/10/09

- "Truck bomb kills 16 people in Iraq," 8/29/09

Associated Press, "Bombs kill at least 8 at Iraqi market," 8/17/09

- "Iraq: Key figures since the war began," 9/1/09

- "Iraq lawmakers seek emergency session on security," 8/20/09

Aswat al-Iraq, "32 killed or wounded in Sinjar blast," 8/30/09

- "Final toll from Baghdad explosions 82 dead, 1203 injured – BOC," 8/20/09

- "Kirkuk bomb casualties rise to 32," 8/6/09

- "Toll from Falluja car bombing increases to 23," 8/3/09

- "URGENT/2 killed, 26 wounded in 2 blasts in Babel," 8/3/09

- "Wave of Baghdad blasts killed 91, wounded 552," 8/19/09

- "Wave of blasts in Babel leaves 4 dead, 65 wounded," 8/20/09

Al-Badrani, Jamal, "Bombs targeting Shi'ite Muslims kill 44 in Iraq," Reuters, 8/7/09

Carter, Chelsea, "Iraq: 2 killed in Baghdad truck bombing," Associated Press, 8/20/09

Fordam, Alice and Latif, Nizar, "Bombed back to a state of fear," The National, 8/22/09

Gamel, Kim, "Double bombing kills more than 20," Associated Press, 8/14/09

Hammoudi, Laith, "Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq – Monday 31 August 2009," 8/31/09

- "Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq – Tuesday 19 August 2009," 8/19/09

Hammoudi, Laith and Ashton, Adam, "Bombings kill dozens in Baghdad and northern Iraq," McClatchy Newspapers, 8/10/09

Icasualties.org

Iraq Body Count

Issa, Sahar, "Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq –Friday 7 August, 2009," 8/7/09

- "Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq –Monday 10 August, 2009," 8/10/09

- "Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq –Monday 17 August, 2009," 8/17/09

Issa, Sahar and Ashton, Adam, "New bombings in Iraq kill 30 as Maliki moves to take control," McClatchy Newspapers, 8/20/09

Londono, Ernesto, "Explosions in Iraq Leave at Least 36 Dead," Washington Post, 8/7/09

Middle East Online, "Five police killed in Iraq bombing," 8/5/09

Monsters & Critics, "Cab bomb kills at least seven, wounds 20, in Iraqi market," 8/2/09

Reuters, "Bus Bombings South of Baghdad Kill 20," 8/24/09

- "FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Aug 7," 8/7/09

- "FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Aug 10," 8/10/09

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Bicycle Bomb Kills 2 Near Restaurant In Baghdad," 8/20/09

- "Wave of Baghdad Blasts Kills At Least 86," Associated Press, 8/19/09

Santora, Marc, "Blasts Kill 21 at a Café n North Iraq," New York Times, 8/13/09

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, "Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to the United States Congress," 7/30/09

- "Quarterly Report to the United States Congress," 4/30/09

Xinhua, "Civilian killed in Baghdad bombings," 8/27/09

- "Civilian killed in Baghdad suicide car bombing," 8/30/09

- "Eight killed in Iraq car bomb attacks," 8/12/09

- "Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence," 9/1/09

- "Suicide bomber kills 2 security members in W Iraq," 8/15/09

- "Suicide car bomb kills three in western Iraq," 8/3/09