Chicago Sun-Times April 3, 2003
How many Iraqi troops are there?
BY CHRIS FUSCO
We're answering your questions about the war:
Q. What is the Iraqi military's estimated troop strength, including Republican Guard units?
A. While no numbers have been released by the Iraqi government, Saddam Hussein's ground force at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom was believed to be about 350,000 to 425,000 troops, according to Globalsecurity.org, which identifies itself as a non-partisan, military-policy research group. That number includes between 50,000 and 80,000 members of his most elite division--the Republican Guard.
War's impact on Iraq's troop count is tough to gauge. The British defense minister has reported that there are 8,000 Iraqi prisoners of war so far, according to the Associated Press.
Neither the Iraqis nor the coalition has provided information on Iraqi military deaths. Iraq says at least 425 civilians have been killed in the conflict.
© Copyright 2003 Associated Press
