4,609 Killed in Iraq During April

The United Nations issued its casualty report for April. The organization found that 741 Iraqis were killed and 1,374 were wounded last month. Of those fatalities, 410 belonged to civilians, while 331 of the dead were security personnel. Another 973 civilians and 401 security personnel were wounded. The U.N. does not tally casualties in Anbar due to the security situation; however, the Health Directorate in Anbar reported 27 civilians killed and 225 injured. These figures should be considered very conservative. The actual numbers of killed and injured are likely to be much higher.

During April, Antiwar.com found that 744 civilians and security personnel were killed, while 982 were wounded. Of these, 477 civilians and 297 security personnel were killed. Another 566 civilians and 416 security personnel were wounded. Militants lost 3,801 personnel, while 398 were wounded. Reports of militant casualties come mostly from the Iraqi government.

Combining the highest figures, we have 4,609 dead and 1,772 injured. In March, 4,193 people were killed, and 1,966 were wounded.

In other news:

Although protesters withdrew from Green Zone after Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr asked them to, Sadr also issued a list of demands to the government. The influential cleric said he asked the protesters to leave out of respect for a Shi’ite religious holiday, but the demonstrations will resume on Friday, after the pilgrimage ends, should no attempt be made to address his concerns.

At least 70 were killed and 166 were wounded:

A pair of suicide car bombers killed 38 people and wounded 86 more in Samawa. The first bomb exploded near a government center, while a second bomb exploded a few minutes later at a bus terminal. Bombings in the south of Iraq have become a rare occurrence.

About 80 Peshmerga suffered symptoms of exposure to chemical weapons at the Khazar frontlines.

In Anba, 17 militant commanders were killed in strikes.

Strikes killed 13 militants in the Qayara region.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.