The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in the area of modern Iraq, and does not include collateral damage, especially from raids and airstrikes, which were due to mistaken identity or unfortunately getting caught in the line of fire.
| Date | City | Attack | Deaths | (Alleged) Perpetrator | Notes | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 January – 10 February 1258 | Baghdad | Siege of Baghdad (1258) | 200,000 – 2,000,000 | Mongol Empire Kingdom of Georgia Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia | estimates range from 200,000 to 2,000,000 civilian deaths | [1] [2] | |
| 21 April 1802 | Karbala | Wahhabi sack of Karbala | 2,000-5,000 | Emirate of Diriyah | About 12,000 Wahhabi Sunnis under the command of Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, the second ruler of the First Saudi State attack and sack Karbala, kill between 2,000 and 5,000 inhabitants and plunder the tomb of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali ibn Abi Talib. |
| Date | City | Attack | Deaths | (Alleged) perpetrator | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1924 |  Kirkuk | Kirkuk Massacre of 1924 | 200[3] -300 | Assyrian Levies | Assyrian Levies massacre an estimated 200-300 people after a Turkmen shop keeper and Assyrian soldier get into an argument. | [4] [5] |
| 7 August 1933 – 11 August 1933 | Northern Kingdom of Iraq, notably at Simele | Simele massacre | Several hundred (British estimate)[6] [7] [8] 3,000–6,000 (Assyrian estimate)[9] [10] | Royal Iraqi Army (led by Bakr Sidqi, Arab and Kurdish tribes | the Iraqi army massacred 600–3,000 Assyrian Christians | [11] |
| 1–2 June 1941 | Baghdad | Farhud | ~180 to 1,000+ Jews killed[12] ~300–400 pogromists killed during suppression | Rashid Ali, Yunis al-Sabawi, al-Futuwa youths, and Iraqi mobs | Considered "The Beginning of The End of The Jewish Community of Iraq | [13] |
| 12 July 1946 | Kirkuk | Gavurbağı massacre | 16-20 | Iraqi police | Turkmen protestors were massacred | [14] |
| January 1948 | Baghdad | Al-Wathbah uprising | 300-400 | Iraqi Police | It is estimated that 300 – 400 demonstrators were killed | |
| April 1950 – June 1951 | Baghdad | 1950–1951 Baghdad bombings | 3–4 | Iraqi Zionist agents, Israeli Mossad agents, Iraqi Istiqlal Party agents | Series of bombings of Jewish targets in Baghdad | [15] |
| 14 July 1959 | Kirkuk | Kirkuk massacre of 1959 | 71-79 | Iraqi Communist Party, Fourth Brigade | Kurdish members of the Iraqi Communist Party target Turkmens leaving an estimated 20 dead. This was followed by Kurdish soldiers from the Fourth Brigade targeting Turkmen residential areas with mortars, causing the destruction of 120 homes. Between 31 and 79 Turkmen were killed with 130 wounded. The Iraqi government referred to the incident as a "massacre". | [16] |
| 27 January 1969 | Baghdad | 1969 Baghdad hangings | 14 | Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party | Iraqi authorities hanged 14 Iraqis for allegedly spying for Israel during a public execution in Baghdad; nine were Jewish, three were Muslim and two were Christian | [17] |
| 16 September 1969 | Surya | Surya massacre | 47 | Ba'athist regime | The Iraqi military headed by Lieutenant Abdul Karim al-Jahayshee massacred 47 people in the Assyrian village of Soriya (Ṣawriyā) including the Chaldean priest Ḥannā Yaʻqūb Qāshā and left 22 wounded. | [18] [19] [20] |
| 1975 | Najaf | Najaf purges | 100 | Ba'athist regime | Over 100 Shi’ite clerics killed and 1250 arrested. | |
| 4-9 February 1977 | Najaf and Karbala | 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq | unknown | Ba'athist regime | Despite brutally enforced ban on public religiousness, thousands of people defy it and head to Karbala during the Arba'een Pilgrimage. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested by the regime. | |