Iraq Body Count (IBC) is an analytical project, not a news portal. Our procedure is to collect and reconcile every available, distinct report about each incident. For larger events, stories may run into the dozens and continue to emerge for days or weeks. This, and the inexorable rise in daily violent incidents, means that there is a considerable gap between the initial reporting of events and their first appearance in the IBC database.
However, we obtain an early impression of events within about 48 hours of first reports. This page provides our news gatherer's account of such recent events, but please keep in mind that these are not our final database entries. Rather, they should be considered an early update on civilian casualties.
Recent Events
Sunday 4 January: 42 dead
Baghdad: suicide bomber kills 40 outside shrine, Kadhimiya; 1 body found.
Diyala
Mandili: shepherd is killed by roadside bomb.
Saturday 3 January: 8 dead
Baghdad: mortars strike house, kill 2; roadside bomb kills 2, Zaafaraniya.
Ninewa
Sinjar: bomb kills 2 brothers in their car.
Mosul: gunmen kill policeman.
Tameem
Kirkuk: gunmen kill Communist Party member.
Friday 2 January: 35 dead
Baghdad: suicide bomber kills 30 at tribal meeting, Yusufiya.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill 1.
Babil
Mussayab: gunmen kill 3 Sahwa members at checkpoint.
Arbil
Arbil: 1 body found.
Thursday 1 January: 6 dead
Ninewa
Mosul: car bomb and gunmen kill 5.
Diyala
Khanaqin: 1 body found.
Wednesday 31 December: 11 dead
Ninewa
Mosul: bomb kills 4; gunmen kill journalist, election candidate; gunmen kill policeman following shooting of journalist.
Sinjar: car bomb kills 5 in market.
DECEMBER TOTAL: 497 civilians killed.
9,193 CIVILIANS KILLED/FOUND DEAD IN 2008
Tuesday 30 December: 7 dead
Baghdad: 2 bodies found.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill 2; 2 bodies found.
Sulaimaniya
Halabja: MAG worker killed by landmine.
Monday 29 December: 11 dead
Baghdad: gunmen kill seller in market, also displaced man just returned home, Hurriya.
Diyala
Jalawla: gunmen kill PUK member.
Baquba: bomb in market kills 1.
Ninewa
Tal Afar: suicide bomber kills 1.
Mosul: suicide bomber kills 1 in grocery store; 2 killed by gunmen in separate incidents.
Babil
Mahaweel: bomb kills policeman, his wife and his daughter in their car.