Iraq

Casualties

Last updated: 13 July 2017

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2016

Many thousands

Casualties in 2016

109 (2015: 58)

2016 casualties by outcome

66 killed; 43 injured (2015: 3 killed; 55 injured)

2016 casualties by device type

34 antipersonnel mine; 26 explosive remnants of war (ERW); 2 unspecified mine; 4 unexploded submunition; 43 improvised mine

 

Details and trends

In 2016, at least 109 casualties from mines, unexploded submunitions, and other ERW were reported for the Republic of Iraq. Discrepancies between the available datasets prevented the identification of casualty trends between years. Moreover, it is certain that there are many more mine/ERW casualties in Iraq that have not been identified.

A lack of corresponding detail between the datasets and available casualty reports restricted the ability to adequately compare the reported incidents. Thus, not all the reported casualties have been included in the Monitor’s annual casualty total for 2016, as it is possible there may be duplication. Iraq was yet to develop an effective and sustainable mechanism to collect information on ongoing mine/ERW casualties in Iraq.

Of the total casualties recorded for 2016, 41 occurred in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in northern Iraq and were reported by the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA).[1] These occurred in six governorates: Duhuk, Erbil, Garmyan, Halabja, Kirkuk, and Sleimaniyeh. Twenty-four of the casualties were men, 13 were boys, and four were girls. In Iraqi Kurdistan, antipersonnel mines resulted in 19 casualties, while five casualties were caused by improvised mines, and 17 by ERW.

For central and southern Iraq, the Directorate of Mine Action (DMA) reported 27 mine/ERW casualties in four governorates in 2016: Basra, Missan, Muthanna, and Thi Qar. All were civilians. Twenty-two were male (eight men and 14 boys), and three were female (one woman and two girls). Fifteen casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines, three by unexploded submunitions, and nine by other ERW, including two by “fragments.” However, the data provided by the DMA differed slightly from that reported in the two Article 7 reports. The Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report covering 2016 declared 27 casualties resulting from “antipersonnel mines” in the governorates of Baghdad, Missan, Muthanna, and Thi Qar (including three of the same governorates reported in DMA casualty data for 2016).[2]

Iraq’s Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report covering 2016 reported four submunition casualties.[3]

Data on improvised mine (victim-activated improvised explosive device, IED) casualties remained scarce and did not appear to be explicitly distinguished as such  despite reports of significant use of these weapons in Iraq (see Mine Ban and Mine Action profiles). The Monitor identified 43 casualties of improvised mines. Five improvised mine casualties were reported in the Kurdistan region by IKMAA, The DMA recorded five casualties as a result of IEDs (among the 27 mine/ERW casualties reported in central and southern Iraq in 2016). However, it was not specified whether these were improvised mines (victim-activated IEDs) or other IED types that are command-detonated and therefore not included in Monitor casualty data.[4] The NGO Iraq Body Count recorded 39 casualties of booby-traps in houses: 31 civilians, five members of the police, and three deminers. Many of the civilians were displaced people returning home after fighting had ended. Of these, one casualty was also recorded by IKMAA.[5] The NGO iMMAP reported 11,840 IED casualties in 2016 (4,826 killed and 7,014 injured). However, improvised landmines were not disaggregated from other IED types in the data, therefore these figures could not be included in Monitor casualty data for 2016.[6]

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) collected data on casualties in Iraq due to conflict and weapons, but did not report disaggregated data on casualties of improvised mines, or other mines, or ERW. It was not clear if UNAMI collected such data.[7]

iMMAP is providing technical support to set up a new information management office and an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) server for Iraq through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between IKMAA and the DMA. The MoU for iMMAP to support both of the offices was signed in September 2015.[8] iMMAP recorded 25 casualties (six killed and 19 injured) caused by mines/ERW in Iraq in 2016 in its incident database; however, as no details were available it was not clear whether those casualties were also included among those reported by the DMA and IKMAA.

Of the 109 casualties identified by the Monitor where the sex was known, 74 were male and eight were female.[9] A total of seven demining casualties were identified by the Monitor. Of casualties where the age group was known, 46were adults and 37  (46%) were children.[10] There were 43 men, two women, 28 boys, six girls, and 30 casualties of unknown sex and age group. The majority (81%, or 88) were civilians, and 12% (13) were military. Seven were deminers.[11]

It is certain that there are many more mine/ERW casualties in Iraq that have not been identified. The DMA reported that there were casualties as a result of victim-activated IEDs (improvised mines) and booby traps in areas that had been liberated from ISIS. The DMA noted that the security situation in the contaminated areas posed a challenge for the collection of data, as did the reluctance of people to report incidents that had resulted from scrap metal collection due to their concerns about legal consequences.[12]

The total number of casualties in Iraq remains unknown, though it is known that there were many thousands. By the end of 2016, the DMA reported having recorded 17,938 casualties, of which 6,143 were clearly defined in the detail of the data as mine/ERW casualties.[13] The IKMAA reported 13,463 mine/ERW casualties for all time in Kurdistan.[14]

Cluster munition casualties

By the end of 2016, 3,023 casualties from cluster munitions had been recorded. Of these casualties, 388 occurred during strikes (128 killed; 260 injured).[15] Iraq’s survey of mine/ERW victims had identified 880 victims of cluster munitions (148 killed; 732 injured) in five provinces as of 31 March 2014.[16] Due to the level of contamination, it has been estimated that there have been between 5,500 and 8,000 casualties from cluster munitions since 1991 (including casualties that occurred during cluster munition strikes), and that one quarter of the estimated total casualties were children.[17]

In 2016, four unexploded cluster submunition casualties were reported in Iraq’s Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report.[18] One male was killed in Missan province, two boys were injured in Basrah province, and one male was injured in Salaheddin.[19] The DMA data included all of these casualties except the one in Salaheddin. According to the DMA, the three casualties it reported were all boys. No unexploded submunition casualties were reported in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016.



[1] Email from Mudhafar Aziz Hamad, IKMAA, 17 April 2017.

[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form J. Translation by the Monitor.

[3] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form H. Translation by the Monitor.

[4] These IED casualties included four deminers (two killed and two injured) and one civilian (injured), all in Anbar province. Email from Riyad Nasir, Head, Victim Assistance Department, DMA, 18 May 2017.

[5] Iraq Body Count, Incidents Database, undated but data extracted on 25 May 2017. One of the deminers was also recorded by IKMAA.

[6] Email from Karzan Haman, iMMAP, 23 March 2017.

[7] See, UN-Iraq “UN Casualty Figures for Iraq,” Monthly Reports, undated.

[8] The MoU was the first document signed between IKMAA and the DMA since 2003. “iMMAP to Setup new Information Management Office for all Mine Action Clearance Activity,” ReliefWeb, 3 May 2016.

[9] Twenty-seven were of unknown sex.

[10] The age group was not known for 27 casualties.

[11] One casualty was of unknown civil status.

[12] Email from Riyad Nasir, DMA, 5 May 2017.

[13] Monitor analysis of DMA casualty data provided by email from Riyad Nasir, DMA, 18 May 2017.

[14] Email from Mudhafar Aziz Hamad, IKMAA, 17 April 2017.

[15] 2,989 to April 2007; four in 2008; one in 2009; one in 2010; 16 in 2011; none in 2012; eight in 2013; two in 2014; and four in 2016. Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 104; Monitor analysis of casualty data provided by email from Mohammed Rasoul, Kurdistan Organization for Rehabilitation of the Disabled (KORD), 2 August 2010; Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2009), Form J. Casualties for Erbil and Dohuk governorates only; Monitor media monitoring for calendar year 2009; email from Aziz Hamad, IKMAA, 14 June 2011; and Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Report (calendar year 2013), Form H.

[16] It is not known if these 880 victims overlap with the 3,011 that were already identified. Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Report (calendar year 2013), Form H.

[17] HI, Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 104; and UNDP, “Cluster Munitions Maim and Kill Iraqis – Every Day,” 10 November 2010.

[18] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form H. Translation by the Monitor.

[19] Email from Riyad Nasir, DMA, 18 May 2017.