Casualties from the 2003 invasion of Iraq; see also 2003 invasion of Iraq timeline.
As of March 27, 2003, the U.S. death toll was 26 of which 19 were from hostile action. The U.K. toll of dead and missing was 22. Coalition sources have reported Iraqi military deaths in the hundreds.
There are conflicting reports on the number and cause of Iraqi civilian deaths and injuries. On March 27, 2003, Iraqi Health Minister Omeed Medhat Mubarak said the total number of civilian injured and dead was more than 4,000, including 350 dead. The Iraq Body Count project, which compiles estimates of Iraqi civilian casualties (excluding deaths attributable to the Iraqi regime) has a minimum estimate of 961 and a high of 1139, currently.
On March 28, 2003, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Vince Brooks, U.S. Central Command's deputy director of operations, said Iraq is using old surface-to-air missiles and firing them without radar guidance. This increases the risk they will fall directly back to earth and hit civilian areas. Then, he made a more serious charge. "Given the behavior of the regime lately, it may have been a deliberate attack inside of town," he said. [1]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A U.S. Navy corpsman is killed in action near Nasiriyah.
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, The Southern, March 27, 2003
- 31 Marines hurt in ‘friendly fire’, MSNBC, March 27, 2003
- War Toll, AP