2003 invasion of Iraq casualties

Casualty counts of the 2003 conflict have been partly lower than those of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. In that war, Coalition forces suffered around 378 deaths and among the Iraqi military, tens of thousands were killed, along with thousands of civilians.

As of July 4, 2003, the coalition death toll was 251, including 208 U.S. troops and 43 British soldiers, Marines and airmen. About 90 of this casualties happened after President Bush declared on May 1 that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

There are conflicting reports on the number and cause of Iraqi civilian deaths and injuries. Abu Dhabi TV reported on April 8 that Iraqi sources claimed 1,252 civilians had been killed and 5,103 had been wounded in this conflict. The Iraq Body Count project, which compiles estimates of Iraqi civilian casualties (excluding deaths attributable to the Iraqi government) has a minimum estimate of 6052 and a high of 7703, as of 7.7.03.

There are no concrete numbers of dead iraqi soldiers. U.S. Central Command has given few figures on the subject, but officials did estimate 2,000-3,000 Iraqi troops were killed in one day alone, during an April 5 blitz into Baghdad.

During the 2003 occupation of Iraq, U.S. soldiers continued to come under attack in various towns across Iraq, leading to one US soldier killed and 11 wounded in hostile incidents in the first three weeks of May, then 9 killed and 22 wounded in the next two weeks.

Thursday, March 20, 2003

A U.S. Marine from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force[?] was shot in the stomach and killed as his company advanced on the Rumeila oil field outside Basra.

Friday, March 21, 2003

According to the Iraqi government, 207 Iraqi civilians were wounded in bombing of Baghdad.

A U.S. Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter accidentally crashed in Kuwait about nine miles south of Umm Qasr, killing eight British Royal Marines and four U.S. Marines.

Another Marine from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in fighting at Umm Qasr.

Saturday, March 22, 2003

At 1:15 UTC, a collision of two British Sea King helicopters over the Gulf killed six British soldiers and one American.

According to the Iraqi government, 2 Iraqi civilians were killed.

The British TV network ITN reported that its reporter Terry Lloyd was killed near Basra. Some media sources assume that he was killed by US or British soldiers shooting at Iraqi soldiers in cars next to his car.

Sunday, March 23, 2003

A British Tornado fighter airplane was hit by an American Patriot missile resulting in the death of the two British pilots.

16 American soldiers went missing, 5 of them were shown on Iraqi state TV as POWs and at least 4 were shown dead in what appeared to be a hospital room.

In another incident about 10 US Marines were confirmed to be killed, when they ran into an ambush.

Sgt. Asan Akbar[?], a military engineer, allegedly tossed three grenades into a command tent of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania[?] in Kuwait. The grenades killed Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert and wounded 15 other soldiers. Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone died of his wounds on March 26.

Monday, March 24, 2003

A British soldier is killed in action in Al Zubayr[?].

Two British soldiers are killed near Basra when two British Challenger tanks exchange fire.

An American soldier is killed in action.

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

A U.S. Navy corpsman is killed in action near Nasiriyah.

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Explosions in Baghdad killed 14 civilians and wound 30 more, as the U.S. bombs Baghdad. The U.S. admitted the possibility of an accidental bombing, but raised the possibility that Iraq was somehow responsible.

Iraq's health minister said 36 civilians had been killed and 215 wounded in U.S. airstrikes on Baghdad that day.

That night, U.S. Marines mistakenly fired on the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, wounding 31 Marines, two critically. External links and references

• Benton Doctor in Airborne Shares Story of Grenades (http://www.southernillinoisan.com/rednews/2003/03/27/build/top/TOP002A), The Southern, March 27, 2003
• 31 Marines hurt in 'friendly fire' (http://www.msnbc.com/news/888496_asp.htm?0cv=CB10), MSNBC, March 27, 2003
• Coalition Casualties (http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/), CNN