Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, bombings have killed thousands, including forces of U.S-led coalition, officials of Iraqi federal government and civilians. Suicide bombings have been used as a tactic in other armed struggles, but their frequency and lethality in Iraq is unprecedented. [1] During the invasion, the United States and United Kingdom dropped 29,199 bombs. [2] The article does not list these, but concentrates on the smaller number of insurgent bombings during the post-invasion phase of the Iraqi conflict (2003–present).
Most of the bombings were carried out by Sunni insurgents and Sunni Islamist organizations such as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jama'at Ansar al-Sunna, and the Islamic State of Iraq. The main targets of the bombings were the forces of the U.S.-led coalition and those collaborating with it. The Islamic State of Iraq organization also targeted Shia civilians.
A 2005 Human Rights Watch report analysed the insurgency in Iraq and highlighted, "The groups that are most responsible for the abuse, namely al-Qaeda in Iraq and its allies, Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic State of Iraq, have all targeted civilians for abductions and executions. The first two groups have repeatedly boasted about massive car bombs and suicide bombs in mosques, markets, bus stations and other civilian areas. Such acts are war crimes and in some cases may constitute crimes against humanity, which are defined as serious crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population." [3]
A 2008 RAND Research brief on counterinsurgency in Iraq: 2003 - 2006 [4] depicts a chart that shows in June and July 2004, Iraqi insurgents began to shift their focus away from attacking U.S. and coalition forces with roadside bombs and instead began targeting the Iraqi population with suicide bombers and vehicle-borne IEDs. By increasing the number of suicide bombings against civilians and accepting their targeting in retribution, the insurgents sought to expose the weakness of the coalition-Iraqi security and reconstruction apparatus, threaten those who collaborated with the government, generate funds and propaganda, and increasingly enact sectarian revenge. The U.S. failure to adapt to this shift had dramatic consequences. By June 2004, U.S. deaths represented less than 10% of overall deaths on the battlefield and Iraqi deaths represented more than 90% - a figure that remained constant for the next 18 months of the War.
An analysis by Iraq Body Count and co-authors published in 2011 concluded that at least 12,284 civilians were killed in at least 1,003 suicide bombings in Iraq between 2003 and 2010. The study reveals that suicide bombings kill 60 times as many civilians as soldiers [5] [6]
This article lists all major bombings of the Second Iraq War. For bombings that occurred following the withdrawal of US troops see List of bombings during the Iraqi Insurgency (2011-present)
Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.
Operation Imposing Law, also known as Operation Law and Order, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon or Baghdad Security Plan (BSP), was a joint Coalition-Iraqi security plan conducted throughout Baghdad. Under the Surge plan developed in late 2006, Baghdad was to be divided into nine zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side by side to clear each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents and establish Joint Security Stations so that reconstruction programs could begin in safety. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, went so far as to say Iraq would be "doomed" if this plan failed. Numerous members of Congress stated the plan was a critical period for the U.S. presence in Iraq.
The 18 April 2007 Baghdad bombings were a series of attacks that occurred when five car bombs exploded across Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, on 18 April 2007, killing nearly 200 people.
Events in the year 2008 in Iraq.
In 2003, there were 25 suicide bombings executed by 32 attackers.
2004 was most notably marked by a series of battles in Fallujah. See Fallujah during the Iraq War.
2006 in Iraq marked the onset of a sectarian war in Iraq and remains the deadliest year of the Iraq War since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
This list details terrorist incidents occurring in Iraq in 2007. In 2007, the US sent 20,000 additional troops into combat as part of a troop surge. There were 442 bombings in 2007, the second-most in a single year during the Iraq War. Major events included a January 16 attack on Mustansiriyah University, which killed 70 and injured 180, and February 3 bombings at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad, which killed 135 people.
This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008. In 2008, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On February 1, a pair of bombs detonated at a market in Baghdad, killing 99 people and injuring 200. Two other particularly deadly attacks occurred on March 6, and June 17.
This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.
In January 2011, a series of insurgent shooting and bombing attacks were launched throughout Iraq.
Throughout January 2012, a series of bombing and shooting attacks took place in multiple locations in Iraq, seemingly targeting Shia Muslims.
The Iraqi insurgency was an insurgency that began in late 2011 after the end of the Iraq War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, resulting in violent conflict with the central government, as well as low-level sectarian violence among Iraq's religious groups.
This list is limited to bombings and does not include other forms of attacks.
The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.