Attacks Down But Casualties Remain High In 2nd Week of August, 2014

Violence continued across central Iraq in the second week of August 2014. The press had fewer security incidents than the previous week, but casualties remained high due to figures being released about peshmerga casualties in Ninewa and massacres carried out by the Islamic State (IS) in Salahaddin. U.S. air strikes and the arrival of Kurdish fighters from Syrian, Turkish, and Iranian groups also helped stabilize the front in Ninewa and Diyala, while the security forces and insurgents continued to battle over several cities in Anbar. In Baghdad there were continued car bombs and terrorist attacks in Kirkuk. Overall, August 8-14 saw the return of foreign powers to Iraq, but it was not enough to slow down the insurgency across the country.

Like the first week of August there were over 1,800 casualties in Iraq from August 8-14. The media had 178 security incidents, down from 265 the previous week, which was the most seen this year. The number of dead dropped as well from 951 the first week to 709 the second. That was made up of 217 peshmerga, 26 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 10 Sahwa, and 456 civilians. The wounded went up however from 885 August 1-7 to 1,152 the following week. That consisted of 542 peshmerga, 74 ISF, 4 Sahwa, and 532 civilians. The huge number of Kurdish casualties was actually the result of fighting across both weeks of August in the Sinjar area of Ninewa, but they were not reported until the 8^th. Shootings decreased from 124 to 84 across the two weeks, while bombings remained steady at 104 versus 106 and 17 car bombs in both weeks. Although the number of dead and wounded declined they were still some of the highest figures seen since the middle of June when Mosul fell and the insurgency swept across Ninewa, Salahaddin and Kirkuk provinces. June 8-14 for example there were 658 killed, followed by 729 June 15-21 and 720 from June 22-28. The injured on the other hand was the most since the start of 2014.

Security Incidents In Iraq Aug 1-14, 2014

Incidents	Dead	ISF Sahwa Peshmerga Dead	Civilian Dead	Wounded	ISF Sahwa Peshmerga Wounded	Civilian Wounded	Gunfire	Bombs	Car Bombs	Suicide Bombers
265	951	126 ISF 19 Sahwa 56 Peshmerga	750	885	218 ISF 7 Sahwa 23 Peshmerga	637	124	104	17	7
178	709	26 ISF 10 Sahwa 217 Peshmerga	456	1,152	74 ISF 4 Sahwa 542 Peshmerga	532	84	106	17	25

Violence In Iraq 2014

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	244	363	736
Jan 8-14	272	364	683
Jan 15-21	205	358	616
Jan 22-28	236	305	618
Jan 29-31	57	93	237
JAN	1,014	1,483	2,890
Feb 1-7	204	296	700
Feb 8-14	226	258	505
Feb 15-21	264	346	703
Feb 22-28	251	374	618
FEB	945	1,274	2,526
Mar 1-7	253	412	702
Mar 8-14	206	324	612
Mar 15-21	216	423	736
Mar 22-27	211	279	580
Mar 28-31	110	168	271
MAR	996	1,606	2,901
Apr 1-7	238	259	550
Apr 8-14	223	362	646
Apr 15-21	251	406	786
Apr 22-28	226	347	744
Apr 29-30	61	82	179
APR	999	1,456	2,905
May 1-7	198	246	483
May 8-14	257	469	752
May 15-21	183	256	426
May 22-28	204	407	817
May 29-31	63	90	132
MAY	905	1,468	2,610
Jun 1-7	224	588	1,021
Jun 8-14	227	658	887
Jun 15-21	170	729	564
Jun 22-28	170	720	775
Jun 29-30	56	127	236
JUN	877	2,822	3,483
Jul 1-7	200	511	622
Jul 8-14	211	577	625
Jul 15-21	225	398	1,000
Jul 22-28	223	549	801
Jul 29-31	65	162	230
JUL	924	2,197	3,278
Aug 1-8	265	951	885
Aug 9-14	178	709	1,152

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Aug 8-14, 2014

Province	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded	Types of Attack
Anbar	30	52 10 ISF 4 Sahwa 38 Civilians	77 8 ISF 2 Sahwa 67 Civilians	15 Shootings 2 IEDs 2 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Car Bomb
Babil	15	16 5 ISF 3 Sahwa 8 Civilians	25 18 ISF 2 Sahwa 5 Civilians	6 Shootings 7 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb
Baghdad	46	108 9 ISF 1 Sahwa 98 Civilians	259 30 ISF 229 Civilians	13 Shootings 19 IEDs 7 Car Bombs 6 Sticky Bombs
Basra	7	6 6 Civilians	21 21 Civilians	4 Shootings 2 IEDs
Diyala	18	55 1 ISF 17 Peshmerga 36 Civilians	128 8 ISF 42 Peshmerga 78 Civilians	15 Shootings 5 IEDs 2 Car Bombs 3 Suicide Car Bombs 20 Suicide Bombers
Kirkuk	18	33 33 Civilians	78 2 ISF 76 Civilians	4 Shootings 11 IEDs 1 Car Bomb
Ninewa	14	205 200 Peshmerga 5 Civilians	509 500 Peshmerga 9 Civilians	11 Shootings 2 IEDs
Qadisiyah	3			3 IEDs
Salahaddin	26	235 1 ISF 2 Sahwa 232 Civilians	55 8 ISF 47 Civilians	16 Shootings 11 IEDs
Wasit	1			1 Car Bomb

Anbar saw 30 security incidents resulting in 52 killed and 77 wounded. Like most weeks the majority of those casualties were caused by indiscriminate government shelling, which struck Falllujah and Garma. In total 29 people died and 66 were wounded by ISF artillery. Fighting was concentrated in two areas. First, insurgents continued to lay siege to Haditha attempting to take over the dam there. 4 units of the ISF were sent there as reinforcements. The other main battlefront was in the Ramadi area. In July militants were able to move from the south into the western section of the city. The security forces were able to battle back and launch a counter offensive in August. Up to 85% of the province remains under insurgent control however.

Fighting in Anbar in August has been centered around Haditha while the ISF is trying to clear Ramadi and the surrounding area (Institute for the Study of War)

Casualties From Government Shelling In Anbar Aug 8-14, 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Aug 8	Fallujah	4	7
	Garma	3	7
Aug 9	Fallujah	3	8
	Garma	1	9
Aug 10	Fallujah	7	12
Aug 11	-	-	-
Aug 12	Fallujah	6	10
	Garma	3	5
Aug 13	Fallujah	2	8
Aug 14	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	29	66

The ISF continues with security operations in northern Babil’s Jurf al-Sakhr. This has led to clashes with the Islamic State almost every day with 3 civilians, 3 police, 3 Sahwa, 4 soldiers and 4 militiamen killed and 1 Federal Police, 2 Sahwa, 6 civilians, 8 volunteers, and 9 soldiers wounded.

Iraqi Special Forces seen taking part in on going security operation in Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil (Reuters)

The Islamic State has been able to maintain its car bombs campaign in Baghdad. In each week of the month a wave of vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) were detonated. From August 6-8 8 exploded in Sadr City, Ur, New Baghdad, and Kadhimiya leaving 65 dead and 161 wounded. Then from August 11-13 another six went off in Diyala Bridge, Karrada, Zafaraniya, New Baghdad, Baya, and Amil causing 39 fatalities and 95 injuries. Bodies continued to pile up in the province as well with 14 being found during the week most of which were likely due to militias. In total 108 people died and 259 were wounded in Baghdad governorate.

 Aftermath of one of the six car bombs that went off in Baghdad Aug 6 (EPA)

Car Bombs In Baghdad Aug 1-14, 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Aug 1	Sadr City	16	25
Aug 2	-	-	-
Aug 3	-	-	-
Aug 4	-	-	-
Aug 5	-	-	-
Aug 6	Sadr City x2, Ur x2, New Baghdad x2	47	117
Aug 7	Kadhimiya	16	37
Aug 8	Sadr City	2	7
Aug 9	-	-	-
Aug 10	-	-	-
Aug 11	Diyala Bridge	4	8
Aug 12	Karrada & Zafaraniya	17	44
Aug 13	New Baghdad, Baya, Amil	18	43
Aug 14	-	-	-
Total	15	120	281

Bodies Dumped In Baghdad Aug 1-14, 2014

Date	Location	Bodies Found
Aug 1	-	-
Aug 2	-	-
Aug 3	-	-
Aug 4	Kadhimiya	2
Aug 5	East & ?	5
Aug 6	Zafaraniya & Obeidi	3
Aug 7	-	-
Aug 8	Rasheed	4
Aug 9	Obeidi & ? x2	8
Aug 10	Fudhliya	1
Aug 11
Aug 12	Abu Dishr	1
Aug 13
Aug 14
TOTAL	11	24

Diyala was the sight of a major setback for the peshmerga. On August 10, Jalawla in the eastern section of the province fell to insurgents. Using one car bomb, two suicide car bombs, and 20 suicide bombers militants led by the Islamic State were able to seize the town from the peshmerga. The next day it used a suicide bomber driving a tanker truck on a checkpoint. Another car bomb was detonated on August 14. The Kurds have been fighting to take back the area since then, but without success so far.  In total, 17 peshmerga were killed in the fighting, and another 42 wounded with some 20 captured as well. In the rest of the province the ISF carried out three operations claiming to secure the Hamrin Mountains, Muqtadiya, and Diam.

Peshmerga firing rockets in Jalawla area which they are currently trying to retake from IS led insurgents (Bas News)

Ninewa saw continued fighting in the Sinjar area between insurgents and peshmerga. The Kurds were able to retake Gwar, Makhmour and Zumar after the fall of Sinjar. That came at a heavy cost as the media reported around 200 dead and 500 wounded. Still the Islamic State offensive caught the Kurds by surprise just like it did in Jalawla. Before the Kurdistan Regional Government seemed to feel like it was safe from the insurgents, but they were proven wrong. Kenneth Pollack argued that the Kurds fought harder to retake those towns, because it was territory that they claimed. The real reason appeared to be the arrival of PKK fighters who were already in the area, and additional forces from Syria and Iran from the PYD and PJAK. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan was also involved. The IS offensive highlighted the shortcomings of the peshmerga. Despite their reputation as heady fighters they have not fought any battles since the 1990s and as one analyst coined them were more of a checkpoint force like the Iraqi army and police. They lack the experience, leadership and weapons to fight the insurgency, unlike the PKK who have been fighting in Syria, Turkey and Iran for years now.

In Salahaddin insurgents continued attacks in Amerli, Dhuluiya, the Tuz Kharmato and Tikrit districts. There was heavy use of indirect fire using mortars on Dhuluiya, Albu Ajeel, Tarmiya, Tikrit, Tuz Kharmato, Tikrit, Amerli, and Awija. Amerli and Dhuluiya have been surrounded by insurgents for weeks and have received very little aid from the Iraqi security forces. At Camp Speicher on the outside of Tikrit 200 bodies were found executed by IS. Another 35 were killed and 55 wounded for the week.

In Kirkuk violence was more subdued consisting mostly of terrorist attacks upon Kirkuk City, while the government carried out a series of indiscriminate air strikes. In the city of Kirkuk there were ten IEDs, two shootings and a car bomb causing 13 deaths and 85 wounded. The Iraqi army air arm also struck Hawija, Shamar, Bado, and Daquq leaving 35 dead and 49 injured. Unlike Ninewa and Diyala IS has not decided to directly confront the peshmerga here.

Southern Iraq saw some attacks as well. There were 4 shootings and 2 IEDs in Basra, 3 IEDs in Qadisiyah, and a car bomb in Wasit. The last was the work of IS, but the others appeared to be due to disputes between Shiite parties. For instance, the followers of Mohammed Hassani Sarkhi have recently been accused of setting off bombs against their opponents’ offices in the south. Two of the three IEDs in Qadisiyah were against houses of representatives of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Ultimate responsibility will probably never be known.

SOURCES

Abdulla, Mufid, “Who will defend the KRG in the south of Kurdistan?” Kurdistan Tribune, 8/11/14

AIN, "11 persons killed, injured southwestern Baghdad," 8/13/14

- "18 Peshmerga elements killed, injured in Diyala," 8/14/14

- “Peshmerga forces liberate Zamar, Makhmour areas northern Mosul,” 8/10/14

Alsumaria, "Four dead and 11 wounded in the bombing of the Amil district south of Baghdad," 8/13/14

- "Killing and wounding ten people in the fall of mortars on Fallujah," 8/13/14

Bas News, “Peshmerga to Attack Strategic Town of Jalawla,” 8/11/14

Buratha News, "200 bodies found near Base Speicher believed to be students killed by Daash gang," 8/9/14

- "Baghdad blast toll rises to 28 new martyrs and wounded," 8/13/14

- "The high number of victims of the terrorist bombing in Karrada climbs to 13 martyrs and 25 wounded," 8/12/14

- "Martyrdom and wounding 18 people, including a police car in a bomb explosion targeting the federal police headquarters southwest of Baghdad," 8/13/14

- "Martyrdom and wounding nine people, blowing up a bus in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad," 8/8/14

Coles, Isabel, “Outgunned and untested for years, Kurdish peshmerga struggle,” Reuters, 8/13/14

Iraq Times, "Martyrdom and wounding 650 elements of the Peshmerga in battles with the Daash terrorist organization," 8/8/14

Al Mada, "Found four unidentified bodies south of Baghdad," 8/8/14

- "Killing and wounding 12 people in explosion of a car bomb south of Baghdad," 8/11/14

- "Killing and wounding 19 people by the army bombing Fallujah," 8/10/14

- "Zafaraniyah bombing toll rises to 16 dead and wounded," 8/12/14

NINA, "20 Peshmerga killed and wounded in suicide attack in Jalawla, Diyala province," 8/11/14

- “Army controls a large part of Muqdadiya district,” 8/10/14

- “An army force backed by the tribes liberated al-Wafaa district northwest of Ramadi,” 8/11/14

- “Defense announces cleansing series of Hamrin Heights,” 8/9/14

- “The security forces seize control on Edhaym district in Diyala,” 8/11/14

- "Two Sistani representatives' homes targeted by homemade bombs in Diwaniyah," 8/10/14

- "Unidentified body found , east of Baghdad," 8/10/14

- "Unidentified body found south of Baghdad," 8/12/14

Pollack, Kenneth, “Iraq: Understanding the ISIS Offensive Against the Kurds,” Brookings Institute, 8/11/14

Prothero, Mitchell, “U.S. airstrikes helped, but Kurds from Syria turned tide against Islamic State,” McClatchy Newspapers, 8/11/14

Radio Free Iraq, "08 August 2014," Daily Updates from Anbar, 8/8/14

- “09 August 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 8/9/14

- “10 August 2014,” Daily Updates from Anbar, 8/10/14

- "12 August 2014," Daily Updates from Anbar, 8/12/14

Al Rayy, "Found eight unidentified bodies in different parts of Baghdad," 8/9/14

- "Peshmerga pulled out of their headquarters amid Jalawla after three car bombs and 20 suicide bombers," 8/11/14

- "Violent clashes between the Peshmerga and Daash in Al Kwayr," 8/10/14

Rudaw, “Iranian Kurdish Parties Support Peshmerga With Fighters,” 8/12/14

- “Peshmerga in Push to Retake Jalawla from Militants,” 8/11/14

Yacoub, Sameer and Salama, Vivian, “Kurdish forces retake 2 towns in northern Iraq,” Associated Press, 8/10/14