Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Iraq’s Central Front Attacks Upon Baghdad Continue While ISIS Fights In Rest Of Country

 
Most of the attention on Iraq’s security situation right now is focused upon the fighting in Salahaddin, Anbar and Ninewa, and to a lesser extent Diyala and Kirkuk. Little has been said about the continued attacks upon Baghdad province. The ultimate goal of the insurgency is to reach the capital and overthrow the government. Right now the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is the only group that has the capability to hit the central governorate. It has kept up a steady dose of shootings and bombings there showing that its networks continue to operate in Baghdad despite its commitments to other parts of the country.

Despite heavy fighting across central Iraq the Islamic State has been able to maintain its operating in Baghdad province. On June 6 ISIS and other insurgent groups launched its assault upon Mosul. After the fall of that city the militants charged across half of Salahaddin and western Kirkuk. Since then it has made more advances in Anbar and across western Ninewa, along with continued fighting in Diyala and northern Babil. None of that has stopped ISIS’s operations in Baghdad. The average number of attacks per day has not changed from the beginning of the year to June, and casualties are some of the highest seen so far this year. From June 1-21 there were an average of 7.5 attacks per day reported in the press, which compared to February’s 7.2, March’s 7.5, April’s 7.1, and May’s 7.8. The average number of dead was at 15.2 so far in June, which is the third highest of the year only behind May’s 15.9 and January’s 17.9. Likewise there have been 36.7 wounded per day in the first three weeks of June with only January’s 38.2 being higher. This has been caused by a steady stream of shootings, 2.3 per day, and bombings, 4.8 per day. Surprisingly these casualties have not ben the result of car bombs. There have been the same average number of those types of attacks at 0.8 in April, 0.9 in May, and 0.8 in June, but they have not been launched in the consistent waves as seen in previous periods. From June 1-23 vehicle born IEDs (VBIEDs) have been spread out with June 7 the only exception when there were 6 across Baghdad resulting in 23 killed and 91 injured. Otherwise there has only been one or two about every other day during the month. In previous months there were one to two days off and then a couple days of 1-3 car bombs followed by a huge number on one or two days before ramping down and repeating the pattern. The series of VBIEDs is the only change in violence in Baghdad governorate since fighting started in other parts of Iraq.

Violence In Baghdad Province 2014
Date
Attacks
Killed
Wounded
Shootings
Bombs
Car Bombs
Jan 1-7
57
105
181
28
30
5
Jan 8-14
56
145
297
22
29
9
Jan 15-21
67
170
383
16
49
24
Jan 22-28
56
89
185
21
32
6
Jan 29-31
15
48
141
4
15
5
Jan Total
251
557
1,187
91
155
49
Feb 1-7
59
133
300
18
40
24
Feb 8-14
45
48
121
20
25
4
Feb 15-21
49
71
199
19
30
7
Feb 22-28
51
111
231
24
28
3
Feb Total
204
363
851
81
123
38
Mar 1-7
68
114
284
21
47
10
Mar 8-14
41
46
130
5
27
5
Mar 15-21
48
102
244
10
38
8
Mar 22-27
47
83
208
17
32
6
Mar 28-31
29
40
81
8
21
2
Mar Total
233
385
947
61
165
31
Apr 1-7
61
69
123
26
33
-
Apr 8-14
48
87
212
16
31
12
Apr 15-21
61
131
289
11
37
8
Apr 22-28
37
120
264
14
23
4
Apr 29-30
8
17
36
1
4
-
Apr Total
215
424
924
68
128
24
May 1-7
42
49
63
25
15
-
May 8-14
88
171
329
31
48
18
May 15-21
56
100
187
24
31
3
May 22-28
45
159
404
13
33
8
May 29-31
13
14
37
1
10
1
May Total
244
493
1,020
93
137
30
Jun 1-7
58
114
288
18
34
11
Jun 8-14
54
100
242
22
34
3
Jun 15-21
47
106
242
9
34
3

Average Levels Of Violence Per Day In Baghdad 2014
Month
Attacks
Killed
Wounded
Shootings
Bombs
Car
Bombs
Jan
8.0
17.9
38.2
2.9
5.0
1.5
Feb
7.2
12.9
30.3
2.8
4.3
1.3
Mar
7.5
12.4
30.5
1.9
5.3
1.0
Apr
7.1
14.1
30.8
2.2
4.2
0.8
May
7.8
15.9
32.9
3.0
4.4
0.9
Jun 1-21
7.5
15.2
36.7
2.3
4.8
0.8

Car Bombs In Baghdad June 1-23 2014
Date
Location
Dead
Wounded
Jun 1
-
-
-
Jun 2
8
19
Jun 3
-
-
-
Jun 4
4
12
Jun 5
5
15
Jun 6
-
-
-
Jun 7
23
91
Jun 8
-
-
-
Jun 9
-
-
-
Jun 10
6
10
Jun 11
18
45
Jun 12
-
-
-
Jun 13
3
7
Jun 14
-
-
-
Jun 15
12
29
Jun 16
-
-
-
Jun 17
11
40
Jun 18
-
-
-
Jun 19
2
8
Jun 20
-
-
-
Jun 21
-
-
-
Jun 22
-
-
-
Jun 23
-
-
-
Total
17
92
276


Insurgents also continue to infiltrate into the capital city. On June 16 for example Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) said that it had killed 56 ISIS members and wounded another 21 as they were trying to infiltrate from Anbar in the west, Babil in the south, and from the north as well. June 21 the Operations Command reported 10 dead militants who were trying to sneak into the capital or plant improvised explosive devices. Then on June 23 the BOC told the press that another 12 insurgents lost their lives in various outskirts of the capital province. ISIS’s charge from the north has been blunted in central Salahaddin, but the Islamic State has been building up its networks in the Baghdad Belts that surround the capital for months now. It is currently trying to move more people into the capital from Anbar in the west, Diyala in the east, and Babil in the south. Obviously the supply lines into and throughout Baghdad continue to operate with no slackening due to the current offensive as the security incident statistics show.

Baghdad and overthrowing the government is the goal of all of Iraq’s insurgent groups. So far only the Islamic State of Iraq has been able to carry out attacks in that province. It has an extensive network of safe houses and supply lines going throughout the governorate and extending into the surrounding areas that pass fighters, ammunition and explosives into the center to carry out operations. These have shown no let up since June 4 when Mosul was attacked. That means ISIS has maintained its manpower in the Baghdad Belts and not diverted them to other areas to carry out fighting there. The only thing that has seemingly decreased is the constant wave of car bombs, but the overall number of them has remained steady. The sad fact is that violence in Baghdad could actually get worse as the militants want to restart street fighting there just as it did before to threaten the authorities. When that will happen is not known but events have metastasized much quicker than anyone thought so gun battles in the capital could be a reality sooner rather than later.

SOURCES

Buratha News, "Martyrdom and wounding 42 people, the preliminary outcome of a suicide bombing in Bab al-Sheikh district in central Baghdad," 6/15/14
- "Martyrdom and wounding seven people blown up in a car bomb in Shaab district in northeastern Baghdad," 6/5/14

Al Forat, "9 civilians killed, injured northern Baghdad," 6/7/14

Iraq Times, "Martyrdom and wounding 13 people, the bombing targeting Alwa eastern Baghdad," 6/5/14
- "Martyrdom and wounding 20 worshippers targeting Shiite shrine in the neighborhood of Ur," 6/7/14
- "Martyrdom and wounding 21 civilians by a car bomb in western Baghdad Bayaa," 6/7/14
- "martyrs and wounded toll initial burst of Sadr City 51," 6/17/14

Al-Khafaji, Osama, "Killing two soldiers and wounding nine others, suicide bombing on checkpoint north of Baghdad," Alsumaria, 6/2/14

Al Mada, "Killing and wounding at least eight soldiers blown up by a suicide car bomb north of Baghdad," 6/2/14

Al Masalah, "18 dead and 45 wounded..final outcome of the suicide bombing which targeted a checkpoint in Kazemiya," 6/11/14
- "Killing one civilian and a lieutenant colonel and wounding eight by a roadside bomb in New Baghdad," 6/19/14
- "Killing six civilians and wounding 10 others by a car bomb in the neighborhood of Ur," 6/10/14

National Iraqi News Agency, “56 terrorists killed, 21 others wounded in last 24 hours in Baghdad,” 6/16/14
- “Baghdad Operations: /10/ terrorists killed, others injured and improvised explosive devices dismantled in the capital,” 6/21/14
- "Breaking News..Death toll of the car bomb in al- Amil district rose to 3 killed and 11 wounded," 6/7/14
- "Breaking News…Seventeen people killed and wounded in a car bomb attack in eastern Baghdad," 6/7/14
- “A number of terrorists killed and injured along with seizing of explosives in Baghdad,” 6/23/14
- "Two policeman killed, two others injured in a car bomb explosion south of Baghdad," 6/19/14

Radio Nawa, "Baghdad bombings toll rises to 13 dead and 79 wounded," 6/7/14
- "Killing and wounding 10 people in the bombing of the village seen north of Baghdad," 6/14/14

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Attacks across Iraq kill at least 15 people," Associated Press, 6/2/14
- "Car bombs strike Iraq's Kirkuk as attacks kill 17," Associated Press, 6/4/14

15 comments:

bb said...

You gotta acknowledge, Joel, that as brutal sectarian tyrants go prime minister Maliki is absolutely, utterly, hopeless.

He's had the reigns of power and the Iraqi army and security forces at his disposal now for 8 consecutive years hasn't he?

So why aren't his equivalents of the Republican guards and Mukhabarat dealing with this security problem by grabbing these insurgents out of their beds, parading them in the streets and cutting their tongues out like the last tyrant solved the problem?

Is it fair to say that a shia tyrant is just a weak willy?

Joel Wing said...

That's because he's hollowed out the ISF by placing his own loyalists in power rather than competent commanders to coup proof his government. He's turned the intelligence agencies against each other for the same purpose. Plus the ISF is corrupt just like most institutions in Iraq. And in fact the ISF is following the same kind of counterinsurgent tactics that not only the Americans practiced 2003-2007 but Saddam's forces did as well with raids, mass arrests, cordoning off neighborhoods for days, holding families hostages for people on wanted lists, abuse and torture in detention facilities, holding people without warrants indefinitely and incommunicado, etc. These are all reasons why the ISF has collapsed and that the operations they launch are ineffective.

Joel Wing said...

“What the people in the Sunni community talk about everyday for the past few years is random arrests, torture, the fact that they have to pay to get their relatives to be released from prison, the fact that people are arrested without charge, they are never brought before a judge, etc. etc. Obviously this is not every person, but it happens to a lot of them. This is very well document. This is all they talk about. When you sit down and talk to these people on a day to day basis they don’t talk about the number of ambassadors they have, they don’t talk about Hashemi, they don’t talk about Mutlaq, and so on and so forth. That makes no difference to them whether Hashemi is in government or out of it. What these people want is to be treated equally by the security forces.”

Zaid al-Ali, constitutional scholar at Frontline Club, London, England, 6/24/14

Anonymous said...

After I hear today Maliki in tv my only hope for the future of a united Iraq is wait for next Friday to hear the representative of Sistani blaming directly to Maliki for the current mess in Iraq. Inshaaalaa!!!
N
As Always thank you for your posts.

Joel Wing said...

You really want examples of abuses by the ISF? REALLY

Amnesty has evidence of prisoner executions in Tal Afar, Mosul, Baquba in June

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iraq-testimonies-point-dozens-revenge-killings-sunni-detainees-2014-06-27

Reuters has evidence of prisoner executions in Babil & Baquba in June

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mass-prisoner-deaths-iraq-point-police-executions-115927718.html#ZVUw1ln

Joel Wing said...

Human Rights Watch Dec 08 no due process and abuses in criminal justice system. Includes regular abuse, bribes required to get families released, etc.

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/12/14/quality-justice-0

UN Dec 08 Human Rights Report mistreatment in Iraqi prisons common. Torture and abuse normal

http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2008/12/united-nations-dec-08-human-rights.html

Joel Wing said...

Aswat al-Iraq, “Human rights reports warns of crisis – MRFC,” 4/22/09
Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and Bill of Rights, a human rights NGO said that prisoners were being abused in Iraqi prisons

DPA, “Hundreds tortured in Iraqi prisons, government says,” 5/24/09
Ministry of Human Rights said that there were 306 cases of torture and abuse in Iraqi prisons

http://theglobalreport.org/articles/hundreds-tortured-in-iraqi-prisons-government-says

Agence France Presse, “Iraq probes torture complaints,” 6/7/09
- Interior Ministry investigating torture and abuse complaints in two jails, one in Amarah,Maysan other in Diwaniya, Qadisiyah


Joel Wing said...

Associated Press, “Iraq gov. faces claims of prisoner abuse,” 7/17/09
- Reports of beatings and abuse in Iraq jails

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-07-17-iraq-prison_N.htm

Latif, Nizar, “Horrors of Iraq prison torture continue,” The National

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/horrors-of-iraq-prison-torture-continue

Fordham, Alice, “In Iraq’s prisons, a culture of abuse,” Christian Science Monitor, 9/13/09
Abuse and overcrowding at Iraq's prisons

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, “Human Rights Report 1 January – 30 June 2009,” 12/15/09
No due process, indefinite detentions, abuse and torture common

Joel Wing said...

Aswat al-Iraq, “Dangerous violations in detention centers – committee,” 1/26/10
Parliament’s human rights committee head said that there are violations going on in Iraq’s prisons and jails

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, And Labor, “2009 Human Rights Report: Iraq,” U.S. State Department, 3/11/10
- 2009 Iraq saw arbitrary arrests, torture, bad treatment, bad conditions in jail/prisons, lack of trials, immature judiciary

Amnesty International, “New order, same abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq,” September 2010

DPA, “100 Iraqi security officials face arrest warrants for detainee abuse,” 9/17/10
100 soldiers and police were issued with arrest warrants for detainee abuse in Mosul


Joel Wing said...

Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights/United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Human Rights Office, “Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January to June 2012,” October 2012
Continuous reports of arbitrary arrests, lack of due process, abuse, torture, mistreatment, having to pay bribes to be released, etc.

Al-Hayat, “Reports of Torture, Rape Emerge From Iraqi Prisons,” 12/19/12
Security committee issued report saying that there was torture and rape of women
prisoners

Ruhayem, Rami, “Iraqi officials apologise for prison system ‘injustice,’” BBC News, 1/16/13

Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: A Broken Justice System,” 1/31/13


Joel Wing said...

Rao, Prashant, “Iraq forces need ‘massive’ rights re-training: UN envoy,” Agence France Presse, 11/15/13
- U.N. envoy to Iraqi Nickolay Mladenov said that Iraqi forces need “massive” human rights training. Said culture within security forces leads to abuse

Haidar, Rawa, “Iraqi Prisons: Inmates Say Their Mistreatment is ‘Organized’, Politicians Point at Exaggerated Claims,” Radio Free Iraq, 9/24/13
Besides abuse and overcrowding reports of beatings, rapes, execution of prisoners after attacks by ISIS on prison facilities

Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Abusive Commander Linked to Mosul Killings,” 6/11/13
Called for government to investigate Federal Police killing 4 men and a 15-year old boy south of Mosul 5/3/13. This was done under Gen. Gharawi who Maliki later made Ninewa Operations Command and was in Mosul during its fall

Amnesty International, “The State of the World’s Human Rights, Amnesty International Report 2013,” May 2013
Lack of due process and abuse and torture in Iraqi prisons

Al-Mada, “Parliamentary Human Rights: uncovered secret detainees in green zone visit prisons,” 3/23/13
Parliament Human Rights committee found secret prisons being run in Baghdad's Green Zone

Amnesty International, “Iraq: Still paying a high price after a decade of abuses,” 3/8/13
Report on abuses by security forces

Human Rights Watch, “World Report 2013,” 1/31/13
Abuse, arbitrary arrests, torture, lack of due process, etc. in Iraq


Joel Wing said...

Shafaq News, “26 army officers split in Kirkuk and Dijla Operations Command declined the news,” 1/18/13
26 soldiers in Hawija left their unit to protest abuses of citizens by their unit

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, “United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” United States Department of State, 2013
Iraq suffers from chronic human rights abuses

Al-Badran, Sahar, “New fears of arrest, torture in terror-plagued Mosul,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9/27/12
Head of security committee in Ninewa council complained of arbitrary arrests in province

Joel Wing said...

Alliti, Nidal, “Iraqi Official Alleges That Torture Is Still Rife in Nation’s Prisons,” Azzaman, 9/25/12

AIN, “PHRC reveals “torture cases” against Taji Jail prisoners,” 6/27/12

Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Mass Arrests, Incommunicado Detentions,” 5/15/12

Joel Wing said...

Is that enough to support what Zaid al-Ali said? There's plenty more.

Here are some stories specifically related to Maliki

Amnesty International, “New order, same abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in Iraq,” September 2010
April 2010 secret prison at Muthanna Airport in Baghdad found

Parker, Ned, “Secret prison revealed in Baghdad,” Los Angeles Times, 4/19/10
More on secret prison at Muthanna Airport and other detention facilities run by forces directly under Maliki's command in Baghdad

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011,” State Department, 2012
Secret Muthanna Airport prison was run by units under Maliki's command. Plus Feb 2011 another secret prison in Baghdad found

I have plenty more reports like these if you'd like me to find them in my notes

Joel Wing said...

Finally on the left hand side of the blog under "Labels" is "torture." There you can find several of my articles detailing abuse and torture within the justice system and by the security forces. At the very top is a video of women who were beaten, abused, and tortured by the ISF.

http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/search/label/Torture

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