During July, Antiwar.com found that 1,286 civilians and security personnel were killed across Iraq. Another 1,508 were wounded. Of those killed, 860 were civilians. Antiwar.com also counted 3,361 militant deaths. Another 102 militants were reported wounded. The figures were compiled from media sources.
The United Nations also released its monthly casualty report on Saturday. Their sources, on the ground in Iraq, reported 1,332 Iraqi dead and 2,108 wounded. These figures include casualties issued by the Health Department in Anbar province. They are considered the absolute minimum numbers. Of those killed, 844 were civilians. They do not tally militant deaths.
The nature of the conflict is making it impossible to accurately gauge the human losses. The U.N. warns that many of the uncounted may have died from exposure after fleeing the war zones. Also, the Iraqi government appears to be undercounting security member losses in the conflict zone and likely overstating militant casualties. Also, these figures do not reflect any Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) casualties that may be occurring near the border with Turkey
Combining the two efforts, at least 4,693 were killed and 2,210 were wounded. These should be considered lowball estimates. The number of dead is slightly lower than in July’s figures, while the number of wounded went up.
Other news:
The Kurdistan Regional Government has called on the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) to withdraw from northern Iraq in order to limit civilian deaths and losses due to Turkish airstrikes. At least nine civilians were killed in overnight strikes on Zargalie and Wartie; another 11 were wounded.
The U.S. State Department is reporting that Islamic State militants are still kidnapping and trafficking women and girls. Many of those who have escaped have been subjected to further exploitation by other entities. They all require additional help, some of it psychological.
Electricity protests shut down traffic Friday night in Baghdad. P.M. Haider al-Abadi ordered that power rationing extended to include government offices and officials’ homes. Protests continued into Saturday.
At least 96 were killed and 45 were wounded in fresh violence, including the casualties from Turkish airstrikes:
Unidentified aircraft killed 27 civilians in Rutba and wounded many more.
In Ramadi, four soldiers suffered burns while trying to put out fires. Ten militants were killed.
Gunmen killed a civilian in Baquba.
Security forces killed 25 militants and wounded 30 more in Falluja.
In Hit, 19 militants were killed.
Five militants were killed in Sakra.
