April 2009: Iraq War timeline

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DATE EVENT U.S. DEAD Iraqi civilian dead 04.02.09 The U.S. State Department transfers some security contracts in Iraq from Xe (formerly Blackwater) to Triple Canopy, a Virginia-based firm. 4,260 89,950 04.04.09 The bodies of two gay men were found in a Baghdad slum. Human-rights groups report that fundamentalist Muslim militias are targeting gays in Iraq. 4,262 89,744 04.09.09 President Barack Obama seeks $83.4 billion in war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. 4,262 90,055 04.14.09 National Public Radio reports that recent drops in oil prices have left Iraq short on cash, causing a rise in unemployment. 4,271 90,109 04.18.09 Baghdad’s protected “green zone” was shelled for the first time in three months. 4,273 90,119 04.23.09 A secret Iraqi government tally reports 87,215 Iraqis killed in violence since 2005. 4,275 90,239 04.27.09 The death toll from two Baghdad suicide bombings rises to more than 75. 4,277 90,344 04.30.09 U.S. secretary of defense says the recent bombings in Iraq are the result of Al Qaeda attempting to spark further unrest in Iraq. 4,280 90,420

Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, Iraq Coalition Casualties, Iraq Body Count, ABC News, The Associated Press, The New York Times, USA Today, BBC, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Reuters, The Washington Post, Voice of America News.