Car Bomb Trends In Iraq 2012-2014

 

Car Bombs, also known as Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs) are one of the main weapons of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. It is not only a weapon of terror to kill civilians and incite sectarian tensions, it is also increasingly used as a tactical weapon to attack the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), infrastructure like bridges, and government offices. The ebb and flow in VBIED attacks since 2012 impart the changing tactics and strategies of the Islamic State.  

Remains of Oct 11, 2014 double car bomb attack upon Baghdad’s Shula (AP)

The beginning of 2012 was when the Islamic State was attempting to make a comeback after its nadir in 2011. The U.S. and Iraqi forces had seriously degraded the capabilities of the organization having killed 34 of the group’s 43 top leaders. After the U.S. military withdrew in December, IS launched a series of car bombs in January and February to let the country know that is was still around. It set off 26 in January over the course of 12 days and then 23 in February in only seven days. In January the main target was Baghdad with ten explosions, followed by four in Ninewa, and three in Babil. The first was on January 5 when Shiite pilgrims were hit in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya killing 16 and wounding another 36 with two VBIEDs. The next day four car bombs went off, three in Baghdad and one in Karbala with pilgrims again singled out leaving behind 24 dead and 94 wounded. These were the typical forms of these attacks going after civilians, especially Shiites to sow terror and cause sectarian tensions. It also showed that IS was the only insurgent group with the capabilities to strike southern Iraq with the bombing in Karbala. The first car bomb wave of the year lasting from January 12 to 16 showed that was not all these devices were used for. On January 15 IS attempted to storm the government complex in downtown Ramadi, which began with a suicide car bomb to break the defenses. The month finished off with five VBIEDs on January 24 again targeting Shiites with two in Sadr City. In February more than half of the car bombs were detonated on February 23 when 14 went off across Babil, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Salahaddin. A whole range of targets were attacked including the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Salahaddin, the municipal buildings in Kirkuk city, a police station in Diyala and another in Salahaddin, and a school and the Hillah mayor’s office in Babil. For the entire month VBIEDs only went off seven out of 28 days showing that its networks were still very limited at that time. After that surge there were less than twenty attacks per month from March to May. That showed that IS had built up its resources at the end of 2011 to launch these attacks following the U.S. withdrawal. The group not only wanted to hit civilians, but the security forces and government complexes as well. At the same time its networks and resources weren’t strong enough to keep up this level of activity for more than two months. That’s with a huge asterisk for February when more than half of the VBIEDs were used on just one day, the twenty-third. The start of 2012 was a sign of what was to come however.

By the summer of 2012 the Islamic State was able to include a large number of car bombs in its annual offensive. Starting in June IS carried out 41 car bombs, 52 in July, 32 in August, and then 63 in September. For that period the group was able to set off more than one car bomb a day with a high of 2.1 per day average in September. Like the start of the year, a mixture of civilian and government targets was hit. June 13 marked the beginning of the campaign when 23 went off in Anbar, Babil, Baghdad, Diyala, Karbala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Wasit. Pilgrims were hit in Baghdad’s Karrada and Qriat and Hindiya, Karbala. Three offices of the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) were also bombed in Kirkuk and Ninewa, along with a police academy in Babil. In total, 79 people lost their lives and 201 were injured on that day. July 23 26 VBIEDs were detonated in Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, Qadisiyah, and Salahaddin with 104 killed and 262 wounded. September 9 25 VBIEDs were used and then 16 on September 30. The locations of these car bombings during the summer showed where the Islamic State was attempting to make its comeback. Besides Baghdad, which is always at the very top of targets from June to September Ninewa was struck 16 times, Diyala 21 times, Anbar 24 times, Kirkuk 25 times, and Salahaddin 34 times. There were all the traditional bases for the Islamic State, and showed that within six months of the U.S. pull out it was operationally active in those places once again. The summer offensive also coincided with IS’s first official campaign of the year, which was called “Breaking Walls.” One of its two goals was targeting Shiites in an attempt to restart the civil war. That was shown by the constant attacks upon Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad and the strikes upon pilgrimages.

The very end of 2012 also marked a turning point. For the year IS was able to launch an average of 33.25 VBIEDs per month. In November it set off 43 and then 41 in December. The group never dipped below forty car bombs per month after that. In 2013 for instance it averaged 67.2 and from January to September 2013 it has averaged 75.1. IS was definitely back by the end of 2012 and was on its way to establishing itself as the largest and most effective militant group as the entire insurgency started its revival during that period.

In 2013 IS had built up its resources to the point where it was able to launch several car bomb waves per month, not just one or two days with a large number of explosions like the year before. In January 2012 for example there was only one wave from January 12 to 16. In February there were none. That was following by one in March, and zero in April and May. That finally began to change during the summer offensive when in July there were two from July 3-6 and July 22-25, followed by three in August from August 8-12, August 14-16, and the last from August 27-29, topped off by four in September. That dropped off at the end of the year with one in October, and two each in November and December. That changed in 2013 when there were two to four waves each month. February, March, May, June, July, September, October, and December all had 3-4 waves per month. The fist really long one occurred from March 14-21 when 32 VBIEDs exploded. By the end of 2013 the average number of car bombs per day had more than doubled from 1.0 in 2012 to 2.2 in 2013.

During the summer there was another IS offensive, which actually started a little early in May. Beginning in that month there were 82 VBIEDs, then 59 in June, 88 in July, 80 in August and 93 in September. This was double the number of car bombs it was able to launch during the same months the previous year. This was capped off by its “Soldiers’ Harvest” campaign announced in July. Its two objectives were to attack the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and re-establish its control over territory. The new emphasis upon striking the government forces was seen during the summer. In May for example, an army base, the house of an intelligence officer from the Ninewa Operations Command, three gatherings of the ISF and peshmerga, six checkpoints, and seven patrols were all attacked. In June, eight police stations and army bases were bombed. In July five ISF and peshmerga bases were struck, along with ten patrols. This pattern would continue from the summer into 2014.

At the end of each year IS picks up its car bombings to go after pilgrims. 2013 was no different, but this time it was sustained for the next six months as the Islamic State was preparing for its biggest summer offensive in years. December 2013 there were 84 VBIEDs. That was followed by 93 in January, 104 in February, the most of any month since 2012, then 94 in March, 74 in April, 84 in May, and 70 in June. Again, the ISF were at the top of the list of targets as the insurgents were trying to soften them up in preparation to seize territory in Anbar, and then huge swaths of northern Iraq by the summer. In January five army bases and police stations were bombed. In February, eight checkpoints, six patrols, and two ISF bases were hit. March, ten patrols, nine checkpoints and seven bases were blown up. In April, twelve checkpoints, five bases and stations, and two patrols were targeted. Another new target was the destruction of bridges to limit the ability of the ISF to respond to moves by the Islamic State. In January two bridges were blown up in Anbar. Six were then struck in February, five in March, one in April, and five in June. This was another example of the tactical use of VBIEDs.

Since the June 2014 offensive the number of VBIEDs has actually gone down. After the 70 in June, they went dropped to 41 in July, 56 in August, 60 in September, and 31 so far from October 1-12. The capture of parts of Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Kirkuk, along with most of Anbar meant that traditional targets like Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah were no longer being hit. At the same time, IS has seized such a huge stockpile of explosives from the Iraqi army that it has the capability to increase these numbers at any time. What it is doing now is launching more waves, but for short durations. In June for instance, there were just two waves, followed by three in July. Then in August there were six waves followed by four in September. The locations also show that the car bombs are being used more and more as tactical weapons in the struggle with the ISF. In August there were 13 in Anbar and four in Salahaddin. In September Anbar was hit six times, Babil seven, and Salahaddin 10, and from October 1-12 Salahaddin received twelve VBIEDs, and Anbar four. These are the frontlines between the insurgents and security forces.

The car bomb has been a key tool in the Islamic State’s attempt to undermine the Iraqi government. It was originally used as a weapon of terror, but has increasingly been employed against public and political offices and the ISF and peshmerga. The latest car bombs for example hit a PUK building in Qara Tapa, Diyala and Federal Police headquarters in Samarra, Salahaddin on October 12. They have succeeded in increasing sectarian tensions as well as Shiite sections of Baghdad are hit each week. The increase in these types of attacks from 2012 to the present also highlights the revival of the Islamic State as an insurgent organization. Many thought the group was dying a slow death by 2011, but it made its comeback in 2012 after the U.S. withdrawal, which was shown by its VBIED attacks. That year it went from being able to launch a huge number of car bombs on a single day to its first wave of such operations. VBIEDs will continue to shape the fighting in Iraq, and a bombing of a key location could set off a full blown sectarian war again as one is brewing in the country. IS has more explosives than ever and the networks to keep up these attacks for years now meaning its total defeat is the only way to stop them from occurring.

Car Bombs In Iraq 2012-2014

Month	2012	2013	2014
Jan	25	40	93
Feb	23	42	104
Mar	19	56	94
Apr	18	54	74
May	17	82	84
Jun	41	59	70
Jul	52	88	41
Aug	32	80	56
Sep	63	93	60
Oct	23	65	Oct 1-12 31
Nov	43	64	-
Dec	41	84	-
Totals	399	807	676

Avg # of Car Bombs Per Day In Iraq 2012-2014

Month	2012	2013	2014
Jan	0.8	1.2	3.0
Feb	0.7	1.5	3.7
Mar	0.6	1.8	3.0
Apr	0.6	1.8	2.4
May	0.5	2.7	2.7
Jun	1.3	1.9	2.3
Jul	1.6	2.8	1.3
Aug	1.0	2.6	18
Sep	2.1	3.1	2.0
Oct	0.7	2.0	-
Nov	1.4	2.1	-
Dec	1.3	2.7	-
Totals	1.0	2.2	2.4

# of Days Per Month With Car Bombs In Iraq 2012-2014

Month	2012	2013	2014
Jan	12	20	27
Feb	7	19	26
Mar	4	19	27
Apr	7	15	26
May	11	21	25
Jun	9	18	19
Jul	12	23	21
Aug	15	17	25
Sep	19	24	21
Oct	21	21	-
Nov	13	19	-
Dec	11	23	-
Totals	141 out of 365	239 out of 365	216 out of 273
Avg.	0.3 car bomb attacks per day	0.6 car bomb attacks per day	0.7 car bomb attacks per day

Days With 4 Or More Car Bombs In Iraq 2012-2014

Month	2012	2013	2014
Jan	Jan 9 4 VBIEDs Jan 24 5 VBIEDs	Jan 16 6 VBIEDs Jan 17 6 VBIEDs	Jan 5 4 VBIEDs Jan 6 4 VBIEDs Jan 9 6 VBIEDs Jan 13 4 VBIEDs Jan 14 5 VBIEDs Jan 15 9 VBIEDs Jan 17 6 VBIEDs Jan 19 4 VBIEDs Jan 20 9 VBIEDs Jan 26 5 VBIEDs Jan 30 4 VBIEDs
Feb	Feb 23 14 VBIEDs Feb 29 4 VBIEDs	Feb 8 4 VBIEDs Feb 17 8 VBIEDs Feb 26 4 VBIEDs Feb 28 5 VBIEDs	Feb 1 5 VBIEDs Feb 3 8 VBIEDs Feb 4 4 VBIEDs Feb 5 13 VBIEDs Feb 6 10 VBIEDs Feb 16 4 VBIEDs Feb 17 4 VBIEDs Feb 18 15 VBIEDs Feb 22 7 VBIEDs Feb 25 4 VBIEDs
Mar	Mar 20 13 VBIEDs	Mar 5 4 VBIEDs Mar 14 4 VBIEDs Mar 19 20 VBIEDs Mar 29 7 VBIEDs	Mar 5 5 VBIEDs Mar 6 10 VBIEDs Mar 7 5 VBIEDs Mar 8 4 VBIEDs Mar 13 6 VBIEDs Mar 15 8 VBIEDs Mar 18 11 VBIEDs Mar 21 6 VBIEDs Mar 25 4 VBIEDs
Apr	Apr 19 9 VBIEDs	Apr 15 29 VBIEDs	Apr 3 6 VBIEDs Apr 8 4 VBIEDs Apr 9 15 VBIEDs Apr 13 4 VBIEDs Apr 21 5 VBIEDs Apr 25 4 VBIEDs
May	None	May 1 4 VBIEDs May 16 13 VBIEDs May 20 11 VBIEDs May 27 7 VBIEDs May 28 5 VBIEDs May 30 9 VBIEDs	May 4 4 VBIEDs May 6 4 VBIEDs May 10 4 VBIEDs May 12 4 VBIEDs May 13 14 VBIEDs May 15 6 VBIEDs May 20 4 VBIEDs May 22 7 VBIEDs May 24 4 VBIEDs May 28 7 VBIEDs
Jun	Jun 13 23 VBIEDs Jun 17 4 VBIEDs Jun 28 7 VBIEDs	Jun 10 7 VBIEDs Jun 16 11 VBIEDs Jun 23 5 VBIEDs Jun 24 8 VBIEDs	Jun 2 11 VBIEDs Jun 4 13 VBIEDs Jun 5 5 VBIEDs Jun 6 6 VBIEDs Jun 7 8 VBIEDs Jun 10 5 VBIEDs Jun 11 6 VBIEDs
Jul	Jul 3 4 VBIEDs Jul 22 7 VBIEDs Jul 23 26 VBIEDs Jul 29 4 VBIEDs	Jul 2 9 VBIEDs Jul 11 9 VBIEDs Jul 12 4 VBIEDs Jul 14 7 VBIEDs Jul 20 8 VBIEDs Jul 29 15 VBIEDs	Jul 19 5 VBIEDs
Aug	Aug 10 10 VBIEDs	Aug 6 5 VBIEDs Aug 10 16 VBIEDs Aug 15 7 VBIEDs Aug 20 4 VBIEDs Aug 24 4 VBIEDs Aug 25 5 VBIEDs Aug 28 11 VBIEDs	Aug 6 5 VBIEDs Aug 25 4 VBIEDs
Sep	Sep 9 25 VBIEDs Sep 30 16 VBIEDs	Sep 1 4 VBIEDs Sep 3 10 VBIEDs Sep 10 4 VBIEDs Sep 15 13 VBIEDs Sep 17 7 VBIEDs Sep 21 4 VBIEDs Sep 30 14 VBIEDs	Sep 4 4 VBIEDs Sep 19 4 VBIEDs Sep 30 6 VBIEDs
Oct	Oct 15 4 VBIEDs Oct 27 6 VBIEDs	Oct 2 5 VBIEDs Oct 5 10 VBIEDs Oct 13 6 VBIEDs Oct 17 8 VBIEDs Oct 27 4 VBIEDs	Oct 7 5 VBIEDs Oct 11 7 VBIEDs
Nov	Nov 8 4 VBIEDs Nov 14 8 VBIEDs Nov 27 9 VBIEDs Nov 29 5 VBIEDs	Nov 5 4 VBIEDs Nov 17 6 VBIEDs Nov 20 6 VBIEDs Nov 25 4 VBIEDs Nov 28 12 VBIEDs	-
Dec	Dec 16 4 VBIEDs Dec 17 13 VBIEDs Dec 31 8 VBIEDs	Dec 3 4 VBIEDs Dec 8 13 VBIEDs Dec 9 4 VBIEDs Dec 15 7 VBIEDs Dec 16 10 VBIEDs Dec 25 5 VBIEDs Dec 29 4 VBIEDs Dec 30 10 VBIEDs Dec 31 5 VBIEDs	-

Location Of Car Bombs In Iraq 2012-2014

Month	2012	2013	2014
Jan	Anbar 1 Diyala 1 Karbala 1 Kirkuk 2 Salahaddin 2 Babil 3 Ninewa 4 Baghdad 10	Anbar 1 Ninewa 2 Baghdad 3 Kirkuk 3 Karbala 4 Babil 5 Diyala 9 Salahaddin 13	Diyala 1 Ninewa 3 Anbar 10 Kirkuk 10 Salahaddin 16 Baghdad 45
Feb	Kirkuk 1 Babil 2 Diyala 2 Ninewa 4 Salahaddin 6 Baghdad 7	Karbala 1 Wasit 1 Babil 3 Kirkuk 3 Diyala 5 Ninewa 6 Salahaddin 6 Baghdad 16	Wasit 1 Kirkuk 2 Babil 7 Diyala 7 Ninewa 15 Anbar 16 Salahaddin 16 Baghdad 34
Mar	Babil 1 Anbar 2 Diyala 2 Karbala 2 Ninewa 2 Kirkuk 3 Salahaddin 3 Baghdad 6	Qadisiyah 1 Basra 2 Diyala 3 Babil 5 Ninewa 5 Kirkuk 6 Salahaddin 8 Baghdad 27	Karbala 1 Kirkuk 2 Wasit 3 Babil 8 Ninewa 13 Salahaddin 13 Anbar 18 Baghdad 29
Apr	Anbar 1 Karbala 1 Kirkuk 2 Ninewa 2 Diyala 3 Salahaddin 3 Baghdad 5	Dhi Qar 1 Karbala 1 Maysan 1 Qadisiyah 1 Wasit 1 Diyala 2 Anbar 3 Babil 4 Ninewa 4 Kirkuk 10 Baghdad 11 Salahaddin 11	Diyala 1 Maysan 1 Muthanna 1 Kirkuk 4 Wasit 4 Anbar 8 Babil 8 Ninewa 10 Salahaddin 11 Baghdad 22
May	Babil 1 Diyala 1 Salahaddin 1 Ninewa 2 Baghdad 6 Anbar 7	Babil 1 Basra 1 Anbar 3 Diyala 4 Kirkuk 7 Salahaddin 7 Ninewa 11 Baghdad 40	Diyala 1 Kirkuk 2 Anbar 12 Salahaddin 14 Ninewa 24 Baghdad 28
Jun	Karbala 1 Wasit 1 Ninewa 2 Babil 3 Diyala 3 Kirkuk 4 Salahaddin 7 Anbar 8 Baghdad 9	Basra 1 Dhi Qar 1 Najaf 1 Diyala 2 Wasit 2 Kirkuk 3 Anbar 5 Babil 5 Salahaddin 6 Ninewa 12 Baghdad 13	Basra 1 Karbala 1 Wasit 1 Dhi Qar 2 Najaf 2 Babil 6 Kirkuk 6 Anbar 7 Diyala 7 Salahaddin 14 Baghdad 16
Jul	Najaf 1 Wasit 1 Karbala 2 Qadisiyah 2 Babil 3 Kirkuk 5 Ninewa 5 Diyala 7 Anbar 8 Salahaddin 9 Baghdad 10	Dhi Qar 1 Karbala 1 Maysan 1 Anbar 2 Muthanna 2 Babil 3 Basra 3 Wasit 4 Diyala 5 Kirkuk 7 Ninewa 11 Salahaddin 14 Baghdad 26	Babil 2 Basra 2 Diyala 3 Salahaddin 6 Anbar 7 Baghdad 15
Aug	Babil 1 Anbar 2 Ninewa 3 Salahaddin 3 Wasit 3 Diyala 4 Kirkuk 4 Baghdad 10	Karbala 1 Maysan 1 Dhi Qar 3 Salahaddin 3 Kirkuk 5 Babil 8 Ninewa 9 Baghdad 40	Karbala 1 Ninewa 1 Wasit 1 Babil 2 Kirkuk 2 Diyala 3 Salahaddin 4 Anbar 13 Baghdad 20
Sep	Basra 1 Maysan 1 Wasit 1 Dhi Qar 2 Babil 3 Diyala 5 Ninewa 5 Anbar 6 Kirkuk 7 Baghdad 14 Salahaddin 15	Basra 1 Dhi Qar 1 Karbala 1 Wasit 1 Babil 3 Anbar 5 Salahaddin 6 Diyala 8 Kirkuk 8 Ninewa 12 Baghdad 40	Basra 1 Kirkuk 1 Najaf 1 Qadisiyah 1 Karbala 3 Anbar 6 Babil 7 Salahaddin 10 Baghdad 17
Oct	Babil 1 Ninewa 1 Anbar 2 Diyala 2 Salahaddin 2 Kirkuk 5 Baghdad 8	Basra 1 Kirkuk 1 Muthanna 1 Qadisiyah 1 Wasit 2 Anbar 3 Babil 3 Diyala 3 Ninewa 3 Salahaddin 11 Baghdad 27	Kirkuk 1 Diyala 2 Anbar 4 Baghdad 6 Salahaddin 12
Nov	Karbala 1 Wasit 1 Diyala 2 Anbar 4 Salahaddin 4 Babil 6 Kirkuk 6 Ninewa 6 Baghdad 7	Basra 1 Muthanna 1 Qadisiyah 1 Wasit 2 Anbar 4 Babil 5 Diyala 5 Kirkuk 5 Ninewa 8 Salahaddin 10 Baghdad 14	-
Dec	Karbala 1 Qadisiyah 1 Anbar 2 Babil 2 Kirkuk 3 Ninewa 3 Baghdad 4 Diyala 11 Salahaddin 13	Diyala 5 Kirkuk 5 Anbar 8 Ninewa 9 Salahaddin 23 Baghdad 34	-

SOURCES

This article is based upon more than two thousand sources. For that reason individual articles are not listed because there are simply too many. The following are specific attacks that were cited in the piece.

AIN, "47 persons killed, injured in Balad," 2/23/12

- "Breaking news…31 civilians killed injured in Kirkuk explosions," 2/23/12

- "Hilla explosion results in killing civilian, injuring 5 others," 2/23/12

- "Urgent….Car bomb goes off in northern Baghdad," 6/13/12

- "Urgent…Child killed, 12 civilians injured eastern Mosul," 5/14/13

- "Urgent….PUK headquarters attacked in Mosul," 6/13/12

Alsumaria, "Wounding two policemen and a civilian in a car bombing in downtown Samarra," 10/12/14

Aswat al-Iraq, "2 car bombs kill 20, injure 38 in Hilla," 6/13/12

- "10 killed, 33 injured in series of blasts in Salah al-Din," 2/23/12

- "15 persons injures as KDP attacked in Kirkuk," 6/13/12

- "Car blows up in Karbala causing several casualties," 1/9/12

- "Coordinated bombs continue, 24 wounded in Karbala," 6/13/12

- "Seven killed, 35 injured in two explosions in Baghdad," 1/9/12

- "Wave of explosions in Baghdad," 1/24/12

Iraq Body Count, "Fifteen by car bomb near Uqba Bin-Nafie Square, Karrada, Baghdad," 6/13/12

- "One by car bomb in Kirkuk," 1/13/12

- "Three by car bomb in al-Hindiya, near Karbala," 6/13/12

- "Three by car bomb in market, near police station, in Baquba," 2/23/12

Karadsheh, Jomana and Tawfeeq, Mohammed, “Iraqi police: 15 killed in attacks on stations,” CNN, 1/15/12

NINA, "73 Killed, wounded in 5 incidents in Baghdad on Monday," 1/9/12

- "BREAKING NEWS Number of casualties from north Tikrit explosion increased up to 15 killed, 22 wounded," 5/11/13

Raheem, Kareem, "Blasts hit Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq, 15 dead, 52 hurt," Reuters, 1/9/12

Reuters, "FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, January 5," 1/5/12

- "FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, January 13," 1/13/12

Salaheddin, Sinan and Yacoub, Sameer, "Triple suicide bombing in Iraq kills 58 people," Associated Press, 10/12/14