At least 2,154 people were killed in Iraq during August and 456 were wounded. The relative ease of this month’s Tal Afar operation, allowed for fewer reported fatalities in northern Iraq. During July 3,799 were killed, and another 366 were wounded.
Of those killed: 333 were civilians, 127 were security personnel, 1,667 were militants, and 25 were members of the Kurdistan Workers Party. At least 166 civilians and 238 security personnel were reported wounded. Another and 52 militants were also injured. Also, two U.S. servicemembers were among the dead.
These figures are, at best, conservative estimates. The Iraqi government has refused to release casualty figures and criticized independent attempts to quantify the dead and wounded. The number of dead militants, however, may be close to the truth. On Thursday, U.S. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend revealed that about 1,200 militants were killed during operations in Tal Afar alone.
In other news:
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared operations in Tal Afar officially over. The city was captured four days ago, but fighting continued in nearby Ayadiya, and the premier chose to wait for the town to be captured before making the declaration. Peshmerga forces stationed nearby, however, report that fighting is still underway.
U.S. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told reporters during a conference call that he believes Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is still alive and hiding in the Middle Euphrates River Valley in Iraq of Syria.
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said 44 more British troops are being deployed to Iraq.
At least 126 people were killed and 31 were wounded in recent violence:
In Ayadiya, clashes left four soldiers dead and 10 wounded. A female suicide bomber killed three soldiers and wounded seven more. A sniper killed a soldier and wounded three more.
A grenade killed three tribal fighters and wounded four more in Abu Ghraib.
In Baghdad, a bomb killed one civilian and wounded four more in Zaafaraniyah.
Three soldiers were wounded by an explosion in Tarmiya.
Airstrikes in the Qaim region left 68 militants dead.
Security forces killed 45 militants.
