As I'm sure we all know Iraq is currently, and has been for quite some time, suffering from sectarian violence and political instability that has several times into civil war. I've found it very easy to find statistics and information on this period of Iraqi history (a particular favourite of mine is https://www.iraqbodycount.org).

I've found it much harder however to find figures on such events prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. I mean surely, even if less frequent, they must have happened right? And if not shouldn't there be some form of statistics to prove that?

If someone can provide statistics on this it would be very helpful!

And yes, I know this subreddit has a 20-year limit for what is considered history, but seeing as Saddam Hussein's reign started in 1979 I am hoping the mods will make an exception in this case.