At least 3,050 people were killed in violent acts during May. Another 922 were wounded. The number of fatalities dropped by almost a thousand since last month, but the number of wounded in reports increased. In April, 4,033 were killed, and 629 were wounded.
The breakdown as compiled by Antiwar.com is as follows. At least 770 civilians, 166 security personnel, 2,066 militants, and 48 members of the Kurdistan Workers party were killed during May. Another 759 civilians, 146 security personnel, and 17 militants were wounded.
These figures should be considered lowball estimates. Reports from behind enemy lines are scant, and the Iraqi government has refused to release casualty figures for its personnel. The Iraqi government also may be padding the number of militants killed. Some of the “militant” casualties may actually belong to civilians. It is impossible to know the true scope of the violence.
According to the United Nations, only 354 civilians were killed and 470 injured. In Anbar, another 47 were killed and 89 were injured. The U.N. usually obtains Anbar figures from the health department and presents them separately. Early in the Mosul operation, the U.N. had provided much higher casualty figures but was berated by the Iraqi government into reducing its numbers. They do not attempt to report militant deaths either.
At least 85 were killed and 43 were wounded in fresh attacks and fighting:
In Mosul, mortars killed seven people and wounded 23 in Zanjili. Snipers killed five more trying to escape. A car bomb killed seven civilians. Twelve militants were killed in fighting. Three suicide bombers killed five civilians, including a child.
In the greater Baquba area, two people were killed and six were wounded when a bomb exploded. An attack on a checkpoint left three security personnel and a militant dead. A police captain was killed and another person was wounded at a second checkpoint.
In Hit, a suicide bomber killed three people, including a security commander, and wounded 11 more, including four security personnel. Two people were killed and two were wounded in a pair of I.E.D. attacks.
Turkish airstrikes targeting Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) locations in the Avasin-Basyan region left six guerrillas dead.
In Anbar province, 22 militants were killed in airstrikes.
Five militants were killed in Rashidiya.
