As of March 2021, 11 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2020. This is a decrease from a peak of 904 casualties in 2007.

Additional information on fatalities in the Iraq War

The invasion of Iraq by the United States and coalition forces in March 2003 saw the beginning of the Iraq War, a conflict that would continue beyond the end of the decade. Fatalities of American forces were highest in the first five years of conflict as soldiers grappled with the Al Qaeda as well as civil war between those groups seeking to fill the power vacuum left by the removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Casualties progressively decreased from 2008, in part due to attempts by Barack Obama who made the removal of troops from Iraq a central promise of this successful campaign to succeed George W. Bush. In 2013, the majority of Americans considered sending troops to fight in Iraq to be a mistake.

While the number of civilian deaths in the Iraq War was much higher, the trend of numbers decreasing from 2008 onward was in line with the trend for American solider losses. However, civilian deaths rose again from 2013 onward as Iraq returned to heavy conflict with Islamic State.

The high number of American fatalities in the first five years of the Iraq War could be seen as influencing the reluctance of the United States to commit ground troop support in the battle against Islamic State when the issue was discussed in 2015. Not only is the loss of life a tragedy in itself, but the political discourse in the United States surrounding the involvement of their troops in Middle Eastern conflicts has made further involvement unattractive to elected officials. However calls for further ground support are likely to continue as Iraq remained in the top five countries with the most terrorist attacks as of 2019.

Between 2003 and 2024, the annual number of civilian deaths due to the Iraq war has fluctuated significantly. As of July, there were 210 deaths in 2024. Civilian Deaths in the Iraq WarCivilian casualties are the deaths of non-military individuals as a result of military operations. The number of documented civilian deaths in the Iraq war peaked in 2006 at 29,526 casualties. Since then, the number had fallen to 4,162 casualties documented in the year 2011, and the number of casualties has been decreasing again since 2014. Due to the nature of the Iraq war and of war reporting, data cannot be considered exact. Many civilian deaths that occurred during the war in Iraq may remain unaccounted for. The Iraq war was launched in March 2003 upon the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces. Eight years later, in December 2011, the U.S. formally declared an end to the Iraq war. From the start of the war in 2003 until September 30, 2015, it is estimated that the United States spent a total of over 819 billion US dollars on war costs in Iraq. This number includes funding requested by the President and appropriated by Congress, and accounts for both military and non-military spending. Spending was highest in 2008, that year over 142 billion US dollars were spent in Iraq by the United States government. As of 2022, around 6,561 U.S. active-duty military personnel were deployed in North Africa, the Near East, and South Asia. The number of US American soldiers killed in Iraq peaked in 2007 with just over nine hundred causalities. In the same year, there were over 25,000 civilian deaths in Iraq.

This statistic shows the fatalities of the United States' military in Iraq and Afghanistan as of **************, by state. As of ***************, the United States had lost a total of ***** soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, with *** coming from California.

First published 2010 in The Guardian Datablog:

Data journalism works best when there's a lot of data to work with. Wikileaks' Iraq war logs release has dumped some 391,000 records of the Iraq war into the public arena. We've had them for a few weeks - what have we found out?

This is in a different league to the Wikileaks Afghanistan leak - there's a good case for saying the new release has made the war the most documented in history. Every minor detail is now there for us to analyse and breakdown but one factor stands out: the sheer volume of deaths, most of which are civilians.

Some key findings:

Total deaths • The database records 109,032 deaths in total for the period • The database records the following death counts: 66,081 civilians, 23,984 insurgents and 15,196 Iraqi security forces • The worst place for deaths was Baghdad - 45,497, followed by MND north (which is the region that goes from Baghdad up to Kurdistan) where another 34,210 died. The quietest place was the north east with only 328 deaths

Murders and escalation of force • 34,814 people were recorded as murdered in 24,840 incidents • The worst month was December 2006 with 2,566 murders - and 2006 was the worst year with 16,870 murders • The database records 12,578 escalation of force incidents (where someone is shot driving too fast at a checkpoint, for instance) - and these resulted in 778 recorded deaths

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) • There were 65,439 IED explosions over the period - with 31,780 deaths recorded on the database from those alone. • There were another 44,620 IEDs found and cleared • The worst month for IED explosions was May 2007 with 2,080 IED explosions

This poll, conducted April 11-13, 2003, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President George W. Bush and his overall job performance, his handling of military action against Iraq, his expectations and priorities for the military action, and his handling of the economy. Respondents were asked whether Bush was paying as much attention to the economy as to the war in Iraq, whether he was respected by other foreign leaders, whether his administration had a clear plan concerning the war in Iraq, and whether his administration leaned toward military solutions when dealing with international crises and events. Respondents were also asked to rate the national economic situation, to provide their opinions on whether the economy was improving, and to comment on whether they kept track of world events. Respondents were queried on the most important issue facing the United States, whether the country was headed in a positive direction, whether they thought relations with European countries were better or worse compared to two years ago, whether they thought relations with non-European countries were better or worse compared to two years ago, which party (Democratic or Republican) was better at handling issues concerning the military, the economy, and terrorism, and whether they or an immediate family member had been or was currently a member of the United States military. Other questions focused on the policy of taking military action against a country that may pose a threat to the United States but has not taken any action yet, the involvement of the United States in changing foreign dictatorships, the appropriate role of the United States in international conflicts, whether North Korea was a threat to the United States, and whether any country posed a serious threat to the United States. Opinions were elicited on the effects of military action in Iraq, whether respondents approved of military action in Iraq, whether they felt the potential benefits were worth the possible costs of military and civilian casualties, how they viewed Iraq before the war, whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, why no weapons of mass destruction had been found, whether not finding weapons of mass destruction and/or Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein meant the United States did not win the war, whether Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was alive, whether Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, whether the United States government correctly assessed the amount of resistance the military would encounter from the Iraqi army, whether the number of casualties experienced by the United States military and Iraqi civilians were within expectations, how they viewed the short-term future of Iraq, and whether the United States was providing adequate humanitarian aid to the Iraqi citizens. Respondents were queried for their opinions on the impact of removing Saddam Hussein from power in the Middle East, whether the war against Iraq would bring democracy to the Middle East, the impact of the war against Iraq on the image of the United States in the Arab world, expectations of how long the United States military would be in Iraq, the extent of responsibility the United States had in Iraq, who was winning the war against terrorism, whether the Iraqi citizens were resentful toward the United States or happy that Saddam Hussein was removed from power, whether the war against Iraq was part of the war on terrorism, whether the war against Iraq would increase the threat of terrorism against the United States, and whether success in Iraq would increase the likelihood that the United States military would be sent to intervene in North Korea, Syria, or Iran. Background variables include, age, sex, political orientation,political ideology, marital status, religious orientation, education, ethnicity, family income in 2002, whether the respondent voted in the 2000 United States presidential election, and if so, for whom they voted.

The statistics shows the average number of civilian deaths per day by car bombs and suicide attacks in Iraq war from 2003 to 2013*. As of January 19, 2013, there were an average of 6.4 civilian deaths per day caused by suicide attacks and car bombs in 2013. Iraq war The Iraq war was launched in March 2003 upon the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces. Eight years later, in December 2011, the US formally declared and end to the Iraq war.

According to the survey among U.S. citizens, which was conducted by Gallup in March 2013, ten years after the invasion of Iraq, 53 percent of the participants stated that the Iraq War was a mistake.

Civilian casualties are the deaths of non-military individuals as a result of military operations. Due to the data from Iraqbodycount.org, 29 thousand civilian deaths were documented in 2006. Many of these fatalities were caused by car bombs and suicide attacks. The average number of civilian deaths per day due to these methods culminated in 2007 with 22 people killed per day.

Not only civilian casualties can be counted during the Iraq War, many American soldiers lost their lives in the Iraq War. In 2007, 904 U.S. soldier’s deaths were reported in Iraq.

This special topic poll, conducted April 9, 2003, was undertaken to assess public opinion on the war against Iraq. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way President George W. Bush was handling the presidency as well as the way things were going in the United States. Respondents' opinions were elicited about whether they supported the United States going to war with Iraq, whether that support would change if the United States found chemical and/or biological weapons in Iraq, whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had to be killed/captured for the war to be considered a success, and whether the people of Iraq were on the side of the United States or Hussein. Those queried were asked to assess how the war was going, whether the number of United States military casualties had been acceptable, and whether everything had been done to avoid civilian casualties. Respondents were asked whether they were surprised at how quickly the United States military took control of Baghdad, and whether they considered the war with Iraq basically over. A series of questions addressed post-war Iraq. Topics covered whether the United States or the United Nations should be in charge until a new government was established, whether a large number of soldiers should remain in Iraq to maintain peace, whether the war would leave the United States in a stronger or weaker position in the world, and how the war would affect stability in the Middle East. Views were sought on the likelihood that the United States would become bogged down in a drawn-out war with Iraq, whether the war would cause long-term damage to United States relations with France, Germany, and Russia, and whether the United States would be too quick to use military force to resolve disputes in the future. Lastly, respondents were asked whether the United States had done the right thing by going to war with Iraq. Background information on respondents includes gender and political party.

This poll, conducted April 26-27, 2003, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit opinions on political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President George W. Bush and his overall job performance, as well as his handling of military action against Iraq and the economy. Respondents were also asked whether President Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, and the Bush administration shared the priorities of the respondent and the degree to which the president's economic policies had affected the national economy. Views were elicited on the most important issue facing the United States, the national economy, whether it was improving, getting worse, or staying the same, whether the economy was better or worse than one year ago, whether the respondent's financial situation was better or worse than one year ago, whether it was getting better or getting worse, what the overall condition of the stock market was, whether the federal budget deficit had affected the respondent's financial situation, and how concerned the respondent was that a member of their family would lose his or her job. In addition, respondents were asked whether the federal government should provide further economic aid to states or not provide aid and let the states raise taxes and/or cut spending, whether tax cuts in 2001 helped, hindered, or had no effect on the economy, whether a large tax cut would help, hinder, or have no effect on the economy, whether cutting taxes or reducing the federal deficit was a better way to improve the economy, and what the condition of the national economy would be if the September 11, 2001, attacks had not occurred. Respondents were queried on the responsibility of the United States to intervene in international crises, whether respondents felt safer, less safe, or about the same from the threat of terrorism compared to one year ago, whether the United States was more respected, less respected, or maintained the same amount of respect by the world compared to one year ago, whether it was more important that other countries like the policies or respect the power of the United States, and whether it was more important that the Arab world like the policies or respect the power of the United States. Those polled also commented on who was winning the war against terrorism, whether the United States should only attack once it was itself attacked or if the United States should attack before being attacked if there was a legitimate threat by another country, and the degree of threat North Korea posed to the United States. Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with military action against Iraq, whether removing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was worth the human and economic costs, whether they thought Saddam Hussein was alive or dead, whether the war against Iraq was worth the costs if Saddam Hussein was not found, whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, whether the United States would find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, whether the war against Iraq was worth the human and economic costs if weapons of mass destruction were not found, whether the Iraqi people were grateful to the United States for ridding them of Saddam Hussein or resentful of the United States for their presence in Iraq, and whether the United States was in control of the events occurring in Iraq. Other questions focused on how long respondents thought the United States military would have to be in Iraq, whether that length of time was too long, too short, or the right amount of time, whether the United States had a responsibility to establish a new government in Iraq, whether the United States would intervene if it appeared that the new Iraqi government would be an Islamic fundamentalist government, and whether the United States should support an Islamic fundamentalist government in Iraq. Backgroundvariables on respondents include age, sex, the number of children under the age of 18 in the household, the number of children in the household aged 12 to 17, whether the respondent voted in the 2000 United States presidential election and if so, for whom, political orientation, political ideology, marital status, religious orientation, education, ethnicity, family income, and the willingness to be called again.

This series of interviews tracks public opinion regarding the Persian Gulf War from the period immediately prior to the initiation of bombing in January 1991 to the ensuing ground combat in February. In addition to monitoring the evolving war, these data also provide an ongoing evaluation of the Bush presidency during that time period. Part 1 (January 5-7) examines sending troops to Saudi Arabia vs. staying out, the likelihood of war, Bush's efforts to find diplomatic solutions, negotiating with Saddam Hussein vs. forcing Iraq to leave Kuwait, the possibility of terrorist attacks in the United States, how closely the respondent followed the news of the Persian Gulf situation, military action against Iraq vs. waiting for sanctions to work, requiring a congressional declaration of war, Congress voting on a declaration of war before or after the January 15 deadline for Iraq's withdrawal, the January 9 meeting between Secretary of State James Baker and Iraq's foreign minister, attempting to meet with Hussein before January 15, and what might happen in the Persian Gulf in the event of war or otherwise. Part 2 (January 11-13) poses questions identical to Part 1 and addresses new issues, including whether Bush had already decided prior to the January 15 deadline to send troops into battle, whether a Kuwaiti offer to trade part of its territory in exchange for Iraq's withdrawal would be an acceptable resolution to the crisis, whether congressional authorization of the use of force would increase the likelihood of war, how congressmen should vote concerning the authorization of force, what Bush should do if only one house of Congress votes in favor of the use of force, whether the failure of the meeting between Secretary Baker and Iraq's foreign minister on January 9 made war more likely, and more questions related to what might happen in the Persian Gulf in the event of war or otherwise. Part 3 (January 5-7, 17 Panel) replicates both Part 1, the January 5-7 survey, and Part 5, the January 17 survey. It also examines new issues, including whether the United States did the right thing in initiating military action against Iraq, whether the war would last weeks or months, the number of expected American casualties in the war, whether the United States should remove Saddam Hussein from power in addition to driving Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, bombing military targets in heavily populated civilian areas vs. targets not in heavily populated areas, impressions of how the war was proceeding for the United States, how the respondent first heard about the war, perceptions of the main reason why United States forces were fighting in the Persian Gulf, and the reliability of Israel as an ally of the United States. Part 4 (January 17-20 Combined) replicates questions from Part 3, the January 17 survey, and probes new areas, including whether the war to defeat Iraq would be worth the cost in human life and financial resources, whether news that the war had begun made the respondent feel more worried or relieved, whether members of Congress who voted against the use of military force were viewed more/less favorably, FBI interviews of Arab-American business/community leaders, Arab-American sympathy for Iraq, Israeli retaliation for future Iraqi missile attacks, opposition to the war via protest marches/rallies and their effect on the war effort, military/economic aid to Israel, whether the United States military was holding back information about the war, if following the war news had affected the respondent's schedule, and whether the United States was correct to enter the Vietnam War. Questions unique to Part 5 (January 17) include whether the respondent felt proud about the United States' actions in the Persian Gulf, and whether getting Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait or the outcome of the struggle for freedom in the Soviet Union was of more importance to the United States. Questions unique to Part 6 (January 18) include whether Israel should retaliate for future Iraqi missile attacks. Part 7 (January 19) repeats questions from Part 6. Questions asked in Part 8 (January 20) include whether military/economic aid to Israel should be increased. Questions unique to Part 9 (February 12-13) consider whether Iraqi troops could be forced out of Kuwait by continued bombing or if a ground war would be necessary, the timing of the start of a ground war, w

The number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan in 2021 amounted to 13 from the Western coalition, as of October 2021. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is a large military operation, being carried out within the framework of the War on Terror.

Afghanistan War

As mentioned above, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which began in October 7, 2001, caused the deaths of many soldiers during the period from 2001 to 2020. Operation Enduring Freedom is an American term for the Afghanistan War, used by the U.S. government.

Operation Enduring Freedom was a response to the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism.

Although it has been nearly 20 years since the Americans started the Global War on Terror, there are still many terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. About 1,750 terrorist attacks were counted in the country 2019.

Due to terrorism in Afghanistan, the number of deaths has increased from 1,952 killed people in 2007 up to 5,312 killed people in 2015 by terrorists. In 2019, the number stood at 8,681.

Abstract (en): This survey focuses on specific issues related to the United States' involvement in the Persian Gulf War, along with general topics such as the Bush presidency, whether the United States was heading in the right direction, foreign policy, Congress, and the economy. Respondents were asked about President Bush's handling of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, if the United States did the right thing by starting military actions against Iraq rather than waiting to see if economic sanctions worked, if there was personal concern over a possible terrorist attack in the United States, whether the war was a mistake, and whether the war was likely to be worth the cost in human life and resources. Respondents also offered opinions regarding their pride or lack of pride in the United States' actions in the Persian Gulf, the expected length of the war and number of casualties, and how the war was going for the United States. In addition, the survey posed a series of questions dealing with media coverage of the war and the possible holding back of information by the military, the involvement of women in ground combat, personal effects of the war on respondents, Israel's response to Iraqi missile attacks, effects of the war on the United States' economy and on the Bush administration's ability to deal with domestic problems, support for Gorbachev vs. support for Lithuania's breaking away from the Soviet Union, Bush's first two years in office compared to Reagan's, Dan Quayle, and the probability of voting for Bush or the Democratic candidate in 1992. Background information on respondents includes political alignment, education, religion, age, race, sex, employment, perspectives on homemaking, family members serving in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere, choice for president in 1988, voter registration status, marital status, and state/region of residence. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created variable labels and/or value labels.. Adult population of the United States aged 18 and over. Stratified random digit dialing. Within households, respondents were selected using a method developed by Leslie Kish and modified by Charles Backstrom and Gerald Hursh (see Backstrom and Hursh, SURVEY RESEARCH [Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1963]). 2009-04-24 SAS, SPSS, and Stata setups have been added to this data collection. A weight variable is included that must be used in any analysis. Telephone exchanges and numbers have been recoded to "999" for reasons of confidentiality.

After the Second World War, the deadliest conflict for the British Armed Forces was the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 to 1960 and resulted in the deaths of 1,442 British soldiers. Over a much longer time period, between 1968 and 2007, there were 1,441 operational deaths for the British Armed Forces in Northern Ireland. The Korean War was a noticeably deadly conflict despite its relatively short duration, and had the third-highest number of fatalities for British troops at 1,129. The wars of decolonization The rapid disintegration of the British Empire after 1945 is the cause of many of the conflicts displayed here. In the aftermath of World War Two, there were 70 modern-day countries in the British Empire, but by 1997, Britain’s colonial Empire had vanished. The Palestinian Emergency, which after 1945 caused 754,000 British casualties, as well as the aforementioned Malayan Emergency are just some examples of Britain’s disorderly withdrawal from regions it once controlled. Although the UK won the Falklands War in 1982, the UK's armed forces suffered 237 operational deaths in the ten-day conflict. Recent conflicts The UK armed forces have been involved in several more recent military conflicts, and the deadliest of these was by far the War in Afghanistan, which was responsible for 457 British fatalities. The UK’s involvement in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria is also ongoing, although unlike the Iraq War that took place between 2003 and 2011, where the UK suffered 178 operational deaths, the conflict is fought primarily by the air force. Although no UK soldiers are fighting the War in Ukraine, the UK government has provided extensive equipment and training to the Ukrainian armed forces since 2022, along with several other western nations.  

This statistic shows the total number of wounded U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as of January 28, 2014, by state of residence. The total number of wounded U.S. soldiers stood at ******. Out of those, ***** were from California. The number of fatalities among Western coalition soldiers that were involved in the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan can be found here. The total number of military personnel in the U.S. Army can be accessed here.

In 1800, the region of present-day Iraq had an estimated population of just over one million people. The population of Iraq would grow slowly throughout the 19th century, reaching just over two million by the beginning of the 20th century. However, Iraq’s population would begin to rise rapidly in the 1920s, as modernization programs implemented by the British administration, aided by the discovery of oil in 1927, would see mortality rates fall and living standards rise for much of the country. As a result, Iraq would grow to have a population of just under seven million by the time of the Iraqi Republic's establishment in 1958. Population growth would continue to increase following the creation of the republic, doubling to fourteen million by the 1980s; according to these estimates, the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s did little to change the trajectory of Iraq's population growth, nor did the Gulf War of 1990-1991, despite Iraq suffering up to half a million fatalities in these conflicts. Iraq's population growth did slow in the early 2000s however, with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. While the initial invasion would see relatively few casualties (compared to previous conflicts), the resulting economic turmoil and political instability, combined with the rise of the Iraqi insurgency and civil war in the region, would cause population growth to slow for several years. Population growth would recover starting in the 2010s, and by 2020, Iraq is estimated to have a population of just over forty million.

Since 1970, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. is the deadliest terrorist attack worldwide, claiming almost 3,000 lives. Moreover, except for the Musha Church massacre during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, all of the 10 most lethal terrorist attacks between 1970 and January 2024 happened after 2001. ISIL stood behind four of these.

Afghanistan was the country most ridden by terrorism

In 2022, Afghanistan topped the Global Terrorism Index, which ranks terrorist activity across the world. While the rise and fall of the Islamic State and its caliphate in Syria and Iraq received much attention during the 2010s, there has been increased terrorist activity in other parts of the world in recent years, particularly in some African countries such as Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Mali.

Taliban was the most active terrorist organization

In 2021, Taliban, which mainly operates in Afghanistan, was the most active terrorist organization that year, being responsible for nearly 800 attacks. The attacks resulted in nearly 4,500 fatalities. Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 after the NATO-mission in the country ended that year.