Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)
Open-knowledge reference entry
Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present) refers to deaths and injuries in Iraq after the withdrawal of US forces at the end of the Iraq War on 18 December 2011, as fighting continued between the Iraqi government and anti-government forces in the Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) and later escalated into the War in Iraq (2014–2017) and subsequent Iraqi insurgency (2017–present).
Casualty statistics
Iraq Body Count
An independent UK/US group, the Iraq Body Count project (IBC) compiles documented (not estimated) Iraqi civilian deaths from violence since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, including those caused directly by US-led coalition and Iraqi government forces and paramilitary or criminal attacks by others. It shows a total range of at least 175,792 to 196,572 civilian deaths in the whole conflict from March 2003 to June 2017.
Following are the monthly IBC Project civilian death totals, from the US pullout in December 2011 onwards.
The numbers include only civilians. The IBC includes non-paramilitary police forces as civilians, and members of the Iraqi Army or paramilitary/militia forces when the death is a result of summary execution after capture. The IBC does a constant check on all its reports, and publishes weekly updates to its monthly casualty table. Consequently, the figures for the last few months in the table above should always be considered preliminary and will be marked in italic until confirmed by IBC.
According to IBC, of the 17,049 civilians recorded killed in 2014 (a figure it later revised upwards), 4,325 were killed by ISIL, 1,748 by Iraqi military airstrikes and 118 by US-coalition airstrikes. A further 10,858 civilians were reported killed by unidentified actors. Of the 16,115 civilians recorded killed in 2015, 8,347 were killed by execution (the killing of captives) and 1,295 by airstrikes; 8,818 civilian deaths involved ISIL and 1,492 involved Iraqi government forces.
The public source identifies “Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)” as open-knowledge reference entry. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Casualties, Iraqi and insurgency.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)”, the useful work is to connect “open-knowledge reference entry” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17514987. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present) primary sources, Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present) archive and Casualties research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Casualties of the Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.