Car Bombs In Iraq Increase Casualties In 2nd Week of October 2014

Violence has been going down in Iraq since August as the insurgent summer offensive has tapered off a bit. The Islamic State is still carrying out a major campaign to take Anbar in the west, and there is heavy fighting going on in Salahaddin. In other areas like Ninewa, Kirkuk, Diyala and Babil however, militants are mostly trying to hold their ground against operations by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and peshmerga. That doesn’t mean there aren’t sporadic jumps in violence as happened in the second week of October 2014. The main cause of the increase was a series of deadly car bombings across the central section of the country. The result was just over 1,400 dead and wounded from October 8-14.

There was a slight rise in the number of security incidents reported in the press in the second week of October. There were 185 attacks up from 169 the previous week. That averaged out to 26.4 incidents per day compared to 22.9 seen in September, and roughly the same as August’s 26.8. That’s still down from the height of the summer offensive in June and July when there were just over 29 attacks per day.

Car bombs like this one in Kadhimiya, Baghdad on Oct 14 were the main reason why casualties increased in the second week of the month (Reuters)

From October 8-14 the media had 532 deaths and 875 wounded in Iraq. That was an increase from the 451 killed and 687 injured from October 1-7. There was a similar number of casualties in the first three weeks of September. The largest jump in fatalities occurred in Baghdad, which went from 77 dead in the 1^st week of October to 171 the next. That governorate also accounted for just over half of the wounded with 453. That was to be expected as the beginning of the month saw the fewest attacks in the capital of 2014, while the second week saw some very costly car bombings. Salahaddin was the second deadliest province with 140 killed, followed by 93 in Diyala more than doubling the first week’s 41, 44 in Anbar, 39 in Babil, 37 in Ninewa, 7 in Kirkuk, and one in Basra.

Violence In Iraq By Week 2014

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	244	363	733
Jan 8-14	272	364	676
Jan 15-21	205	358	616
Jan 22-28	236	305	618
Jan 29-31	57	93	237
JAN	1,014	1,483	2,880
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	1,238	891
Jun 15-21	171	758	754
Jun 22-28	200	720	775
Jun 29-30	56	127	236
JUN	878	3,431	3,677
Jul 1-7	200	511	622
Jul 8-14	211	577	625
Jul 15-21	225	398	1,000
Jul 22-28	222	549	801
Jul 29-31	65	162	230
JUL	923	2,197	3,278
Aug 1-8	268	1,121	885
Aug 9-14	178	709	1,152
Aug 15-21	150	354	499
Aug 22-28	178	523	798
Aug 29-31	58	118	289
AUG	832	2,825	3,623
Sep 1-7	168	616	751
Sep 8-14	156	932	722
Sep 15-21	166	620	749
Sep 22-28	153	395	573
Sep 29-30	44	110	241
SEP	687	2,673	3,036
Oct 1-7	169	451	687
Oct 8-14	185	532	875

Violence In Iraq By Province Oct 1-14, 2014

Province	Oct 1-7	Oct 8-14
Anbar	39 Incidents 145 Killed: 78 ISF, 13 Sahwa, 54 Civilians 136 Wounded: 43 ISF, 7 Sahwa, 86 Civilians 27 Shootings 5 IEDs 3 Car Bombs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 2 Suicide Bombers	37 Incidents 44 Killed: 9 ISF, 4 Sahwa, 31 Civilians 56 Wounded: 3 Sahwa, 53 Civilians 28 Shootings 2 IEDs 2 Suicide Car Bombs
Babil	10 Incidents 17 Killed: 3 ISF, 14 Civilians 64 Wounded: 4 ISF, 60 Civilians 1 Shooting 7 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb	10 Incidents 39 Killed: 2 ISF, 37 Civilians 26 Wounded: 4 ISF, 22 Civilians 8 Shootings 2 IEDs
Baghdad	27 Incidents 77 Killed: 3 ISF, 2 Sahwa, 72 Civilians 212 Wounded: 3 ISF, 2 Sahwa, 207 Civilians 4 Shootings 11 IEDs 4 Sticky Bombs 2 Car Bombs 1 Suicide Car Bomb	36 Incidents 171 Killed: 5 ISF, 166 Civilians 453 Wounded: 1 ISF, 452 Civilians 5 Shootings 20 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 2 Car Bombs 5 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers
Basra	2 Incidents 1 IED	2 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Diyala	17 Incidents 41 Killed: 30 ISF, 8 Peshmerga, 3 Civilians 34 Wounded: 20 ISF, 8 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 4 Civilians 12 Shootings 5 IEDs 2 Suicide Bombers	24 Incidents 93 Killed: 8 ISF, 31 Peshmerga, 54 Civilians 152 Wounded: 6 ISF, 4 Peshmerga, 142 Civilians 9 Shootings 16 IEDs 4 Suicide Car Bombs
Kirkuk	11 Incidents 2 Killed: 2 Civilians 24 Wounded: 4 Peshmerga, 20 Civilians 3 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Motorcycle Bomb 1 Suicide Car Bomb	8 Incidents 7 Killed: 1 ISF, 2 Peshmerga, 4 Civilians 30 Wounded: 5 ISF, 4 Peshmerga, 21 Civilians 7 Shootings 1 Motorcycle Bomb
Ninewa	11 Incidents 53 Killed: 53 Civilians 5 Shootings 1 IED	10 Incidents 37 Killed: 37 Civilians 8 Shootings 2 IEDs
Salahaddin	52 Incidents 116 Killed: 44 ISF, 6 Sahwa, 66 Civilians 217 Wounded: 49 ISF, 15 Sahwa, 153 Civilians 25 Shootings 33 IEDs 2 Car Bombs 5 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers	58 Incidents 140 Killed: 59 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 78 Civilians 158 Wounded: 48 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 107 Civilians 25 Shootings 53 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 7 Car Bombs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Suicide Bomb

In the first two weeks of October, the number of vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) launched by the Islamic State (IS) went from 15 to 22. That was the main driver of the increase in casualties in the country. 221 people were killed and 461 wounded by car bombs the second week. October 11 saw twelve detonated in Amiriya Fallujah in Anbar, Kadhimiya and two in Shula in Baghdad, and one in the west of Tikrit, one in Shajarat al-Dor, two in Tikrit and four on Camp Speicher in Salahaddin. Those killed 86 people and injured 164. That day showed how IS is using these devices to both stoke sectarian tension by hitting Shiite neighborhoods of the capital as well as using them as part of attacks on hard targets like Camp Speicher.

Car Bomb Attacks In Iraq Oct 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Oct. 1	New Baghdad, Baghdad	17	59
Oct. 2	Hit x3, Anbar Great Dam, Diyala Balad, Salahaddin	46	35
Oct. 3	Outside Samarrra & Tuz Kharmato, Salahaddin	3	8
Oct. 4	Baiji & Tikrit, Salahaddin	12	24
Oct. 5
Oct. 6
Oct. 7	Hit, Anbar Mashtal & Arboretum, Baghdad Abassid & Amerli, Salahaddin	40	78
1st Wk Oct Totals	15	118	204
Oct. 8	Garma, Anbar Sadr City, Baghdad	12	33
Oct. 9	Baquba, Diyala	9	11
Oct. 10
Oct. 11	Amiriya Fallujah, Anbar Kadhimiya & Shula x2, Baghdad West of Tikrit, Shajarat al-Dor, Tikrit x2, Camp Speicher x4, Salahaddin	86	164
Oct. 12	Qara Tapa, Diyala x3 Samarra, Salahaddin	58	111
Oct. 13	Sadr City & Kadhimiya, Baghdad	31	86
Oct. 14	Kadhimiya, Baghdad	25	56
2nd Wk Oct Totals	22	221	461

Casualties From Government Shelling & Air Strikes In Iraq Oct. 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Oct. 1	Fallujah, Anbar		6
Oct. 3	Fallujah, Anbar	4	11
Oct. 4	Rabad, Salahaddin	3	5
Oct. 6	Hit, Anbar	15
	Fallujah, Anbar	1	8
	Rabia, Ninewa	12
Oct. 7	Fallujah, Anbar	3	5
	Khalidiya, Anbar	5	7
1st Wk Oct Totals	-	43	42
Oct. 8	Fallujah, Anbar	7	16
	Tikrit, Salahaddin	14
Oct 9	Dour, Salahaddin	7	3
Oct. 10	Fallujah, Anbar	4	13
Oct. 11	Fallujah, Anbar	2	6
Oct. 14	Fallujah, Anbar	3	3
	Baiji, Salahaddin	4
2nd Wk Oct Totals	-	41	41

Anbar is the major focus of the Islamic State currently. Since August it has been attempting to seize the province, and in early October it had a major breakthrough when it took Hit and the surrounding towns. In the second week of October IS was carrying out attacks upon towns and cities across the governorate, while the ISF and tribes were trying to counter attack on the perimeter of the urban areas and within Ramadi. For the week there was fighting in Hit, Baghdadi, Saqlawiya, Siger, Ramadi, Albu Jassim, Garma, Haditha, Zekhaikha, Shaiya, Abu Risha, Amiriya Fallujah, and Furat. Some towns like Baghdadi are completely surrounded by the militants and making urgent calls for relief. The insurgency also scored a tactical victory when it was able to assassinate the provincial police chief in Aub Risha on October 12 with an IED on his motorcade. Despite all the violence the governorate actually saw a decrease in casualties with 44 killed and 56 wounded compared to 145 deaths and 136 injured the first week of October. Overall, Anbar remains in a precarious situation as IS is threatening to take more sections of the province.

The Iraqi Security Forces and militias are still trying to secure sections of northern Babil. The thirteenth clearing operation was coming to a close from October 8 to 14 focusing upon Jurf al-Sakhr, Latifiya, and Iskandiriya. On October 12 for example, Sadr’s Peace Brigades claimed it had freed two villages in the lakes region of Iskandiriya. The ISF and militias might have also been responsible for 36 bodies that were found in an irrigation ditch near an army base in Mahaweel on October 14. Despite all the effort expended in the province by government forces and its allies very little has changed. IS is still entrenched in sections of northern Babil.

Baghdad saw the largest increase in violence due to seven car bombs. These struck Shula, Sadr City twice and Kadhimiya three times. In total, 122 people lost their lives and another 300 were injured. These were all in Shiite neighborhoods, and were meant to create more divisions and push the country towards civil war. There was also a rise in IEDs going from 11 to 20 from the first to second week of the month adding to the casualty count.

There was an uptick in casualties in Diyala as well. The number of dead and wounded rose from 41 and 34 respectively from October 1-7 to 93 and 152 from October 8-14. The main reason was three suicide car bombs on the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Qara Tapa on October 12. 58 were killed and 107 wounded as a result. This was a build up to an assault upon the town in the third week of October. There were also several clashes between IS and the peshmerga in Jalawla, which was taken during the summer. Finally, there was continued clashes in the Hamrin Mountains, which both the ISF and peshmerga claimed to have cleared last month.

In Kirkuk there was a return to terrorist attacks in the city, with more fighting in the east. On October 10 there was a drive by on a police patrol, and a motorcycle bomb on a restaurant on October 13 in Kirkuk City. Provincial officials have warned of an impending offensive against the city, but that has not materialized yet. Fighting also continued in the eastern section of the province in Daquq district with the peshmerga.

Fighting in Kirkuk has concentrated in eastern Daquq with terrorist attacks upon Kirkuk City (Wikipedia)

Central Ninewa remains under insurgent control. In Mosul and Baaj, IS has been at work executing people. In total, the group killed 33 during the week that included a former parliamentarian, a lawyer, a reporter, and two ex-soldiers. The organization also issued a notice that students in Mosul could not take their exams in Kirkuk fearing that they would not come back. According to Radio Free Iraq, it has also failed to get most city employees back at work as the city is strewn with garbage. In the north, the peshmerga claimed they were starting a push to free Sinjar on October 11. That might have been in response to IS gaining control of all of the roads leading to Mount Sinjar trapping around 10,000 people there. Sinjar is one of the historic homelands of the Yazidis who faced a genocidal campaign by the Islamic State when it took the area in August. Those that remained in the region are now under threat again.

Besides Anbar, Salahaddin has remained the other major battlefront since the summer offensive started. On October 11, IS carried out seven car bombs hitting Tikrit, Camp Speicher, Shajarat al-Dor, and an area west of Tikrit killing 32 and wounding 39. The bombing of Camp Speicher was part of an attempt to seize the base, while the attacks on Shajarat al-Dor and west of Tikrit were aimed at the ISF and volunteers. IS is also trying to take Baiji refinery once again. On October 8 it was able to shoot down an army helicopter in the area. The siege of Dhuluiya was finally ended, but fierce clashes continued there. The ISF and peshmerga also claimed to have cleared all of the Tuz Kharmato district in eastern Salahaddin. The ISF and volunteers also took Hajaj outside of Tikrit in its attempt to cordon off the city.

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, "Car bomb kills 12 in Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad," 10/9/14

AIN, "ISIL attack foiled in northern Karma," 10/10/14

Alsumaria, "Two soldiers killed by four car bombs on Speicher base north of Tikrit," 10/11/14

Aswat al-Iraq, "4 soldiers killed, 8+ wounded west of Tikrit," 10/11/14

- "7 killed, 3 children wounded in military bombardment in Salahal-din province," 10/9/14

Buratha News, "24 martyrs and 54 injured toll of Kadhimiya blast north of Baghdad," 10/14/14

- “Peace Brigades announces the liberation of two villages north of Babylon terrorists “Daash”,” 10/12/14

Daragahi, Borzou, “Isis fighters seize key military base in Iraq’s Anbar province,” Financial Times,

Al Forat, "18 persons injured in bike-bomb explosion in Kirkuk," 10/13/14

- “Areas of Qaragoul & Albu Haswa liberated near Dujail,” 10/14/14

- “ISF wage wide attack targeting ISIL in Salah-il-Din,” 10/9/14

- “Tikrit: ISF & volunteers purge al-Hajjaj silo from ISIL,” 10/10/14

Independent Press Agency, "60 dead and wounded toll of Kazimiyah bombing north of Baghdad," 10/11/14

Kurd Press, "Triple suicide attacks kills 30 Kurdish forces in Iraq," 10/12/14

Al Mada, "Killing and wounding 23 civilians in pounding on Fallujah," 10/8/14

- "Toll rises Kazimiyah blasts and Shula again to 199 dead and wounded," 10/11/14

NINA, "11 elements of the (IS) killed in Amiriyat al-Fallujah," 10/11/14

- "14 people, killed and wounded mostly women and children, in Tikrit," 10/8/14

- "/17/ Civilians killed and wounded by bombing in Fallujah," 10/10/14

- "35 bodies found in Mahaweel, north of Hilla," 10/14/14

- "Eight members of one family killed and wounded in artillery bombardment on Fallujah," 10/11/14

- "Four people injured by unidentified gunmen in southern Kirkuk," 10/10/14

- "The IS carried out the death sentence against a journalist in Mosul," 10/14/14

- "The IS carried out the death sentence on two doctors and a precedent parliamentarian in Mosul," 10/8/14

- "The IS elements executed a lawyer in central Mosul," 10/10/14

- "The IS executes two officers in the former Iraqi army, four bodies found in Mosul," 10/13/14

- "Martyrdom A citizen and a child killed in a strike by a drone plane in Baiji," 10/14/14

- "MP Ahmed al-Khafaji got martyrdom in the bombing of Kadhimiyah," 10/14/14

- "Three car bombs in Tikrit kill and wound 59 people, including volunteers," 10/11/14

- "Three policemen and a civilian wounded in a car bomb in Samarra," 10/13/14

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "At Least 67 Dead In Iraqi Bombings, As Troops Battle IS Militants, 10/12/14

- “Shi'ite Iraqi Lawmaker Among 25 Killed By Baghdad Bombing, 10/14/14

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Al Rayy, "The high number of victims of explosion in east 39 martyrs and wounded," 10/13/14

- "Two volunteers martyred and a civilian and his daughter in two separate incidents in Salahuddin," 10/14/14

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Al-Salhy, Suadad, "'Iraq is now like a drowning man,'" Al Jazeera, 10/13/14

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Yacoub, Sameer, "Suicide Attack Kills 9 in Iraq," Associated Press, 10/9/14