Diyala is a perfect example of on going conflict in Iraq. When
the insurgency regenerated itself in 2012, Diyala became one of its main bases.
That prompted the entry of Shiite militias to fight them. In 2014 during the
summer offensive the different factions joined together to seize control of the
northern and eastern sections of the province. Recently the Iraqi Security
Forces (ISF) and militias claimed that they had secured the entire province,
but that was more propaganda than fact. The insurgents are still strong in
rural sections and will continue to threaten not only Diyala, but neighboring
Salahaddin and Baghdad as well.
Insurgents rebuilt their networks in Diyala in 2012 in the
north around Qara Tapa and in the northeast by Sadiya, and used them to attack
into the center of the governorate in Muqtadiya and Baquba (Institute for the Study of War)
When the insurgents were rebuilding their networks Diyala
was one area they focused upon. They started by recruiting and re-establishing
themselves in places like the Hamrin region and Sadiya and Jalawla in the east,
which had never really been cleared of armed groups even during the height of
the U.S. presence. In 2012
the Islamic State began asserting itself by hitting places like Baquba and the
Diyala River Valley. In November 2013 it held a parade in Muqtadiya in the
center of the province. The next month it declared a wilayat or governorate in
Diyala. During those two months it also attacked an Emergency Police
headquarters in Baquba, and a military base in Muqtadiya. The province was also
used to move men and supplies into Salahaddin and Baghdad as well as hit
targets there too. Diyala was an ideal area for the militants to rebuild. Its
rural areas are noted for their heavy foliage, which offers perfect cover. The
Diyala River Valley also provides access throughout the length of the
governorate for the movement of men. These remain insurgent strongholds up to
the present day.
As the militants began picking up their activities there was
a response by Shiite armed groups. By the summer of 2013 there were the first
reports of new militia activity in Diyala. Just as IS was marching through the
streets of the province, the governor complained that militias were setting up
fake checkpoints and carrying out extra judicial killings. Likewise, in April
2014 the Mutahidun party of Speaker Osama Nujafi demanded that the security
forces do something about militia activity in the governorate. This was history
repeating itself. In 2005
when the Badr Brigade took over the Interior Ministry it began sending in
police commandos under its control into Diyala to carry out sectarian arrests,
kidnappings and killings. Like then, the militias were retaliating in response
to the insurgency. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also came to rely upon the
Shiite armed factions more and more starting in 2013, as he was unhappy with
the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) who proved incapable of containing the growing
violence throughout the country. Diyala was one of the first areas these
militias went outside of Baghdad.
IS also built up its bases in eastern Diyala’s Baladrooz (Institute for the Study of War)
2014 was when security started really deteriorating in the
province. At the start of the year there were complaints,
especially in rural areas that there were no security forces to be seen. This
was especially true as units were deployed from Diyala to Anbar where open
fighting had broken out in January. That month the Islamic State took the town
of Edheim in the northwestern section of the province, which had previously
been used by Al Qaeda in Iraq. It was also spreading from the Hamrin Mountains
and Diyala River Valley into Buhriz in the center, Bani Saad in the south, and
Baladrooz in the east. The ISF responded with the first sweep of the year in
the Hamrin area. In March, the insurgents picked up their attacks with a
sophisticated assault upon Qara Tapa in the north above Lake Hamrin. That began
with blowing up a bridge leading to the town to inhibit the security forces from
responding. A police station and four checkpoints were then attacked forcing
the ISF to withdraw. A neighboring town was then seized as well. It took six
hours of fighting to retake the area. The security forces responded with mass
arrests before withdrawing. The next month IS was still harassing Qara Tapa
with mortar fire leading to the governor to demand help from the central
government. At the end of the month the Islamists took over six voting
centers in the area during parliamentary elections. At the start of 2014
the Islamic State ramped up its operations in several provinces to let the
populace and authorities know that it was back. The dramatic attack upon Qara
Tapa and then harassing operations afterward were the hallmarks of this
campaign. The situation would only get worse when the summer started.
In June the insurgents made a major thrust in Diyala as part
of its summer offensive. The Islamic Stated formed alliances
with other armed factions such as the Naqshibandi, the Islamic Army, and the
Revolutionary Tribes to carry out joint operations against the government.
Attacks were focused upon Sadiya
in the northeast, Qara
Tapa in the north, Mansuriya
in the east, and Baquba
in the center. In the first two areas the ISF collapsed and abandoned their
positions. The peshmerga filled this vacuum, but not soon enough to stop a
tremendous loss of territory to the militants. 17 villages in Qara Tapa, 16 in
Sadiya, 15 in Edheim, 12 in Jalawla, and 7 in Mansuriya fell. Only the attempt
to take the provincial capital of Baquba was turned back. Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki responded by giving
Transportation Minister, Badr Organization head and Diyala native Hadi Ameri
control of security in the governorate. The ISF counter attacked at the end of
June re-taking Edheim
and Mansuriya. The events
in Diyala mimicked what happened in many other regions of northern Iraq in
June. The police and army simply gave up in many places giving the insurgents
free reign. If not for the intervention of the peshmerga and the rallying of
the ISF by the end of the month even more of the province would have fallen
into the hands of the militants.
In the following months the ISF and peshmerga would launch
operation after operation in Diyala, Many locations were cleared time and again
only to have pro-government forces return to them. A classic example was the
Hamrin Mountains cleared in July,
October,
and November.
The ISF and peshmerga simply did not have the forces to hold an area for long.
That meant after many security operations the insurgents would re-infiltrate
leading to renewed fighting.
The last big piece of territory IS took in Diyala was the
Sadiya-Jalawla area in August 2014 (New
York Times)
IS had one more big push in it during the summer when it
took the Sadiya-Jalawla area in the northeast. At the end of July,
the peshmerga said that it had cleared the area, but ended up withdrawing allowing the
IS to move
right back in. In August the insurgents launched concerted attacks and took
the area. It would take two months, but the peshmerga and militias finally
retook Jalawla and Sadiya, leading to a whole new round of disputes as the
Kurds claimed the region as part of the disputed territories, while the
militias demanded that they leave. That argument has not been resolved yet.
The success of the summer offensive covered up the deep
divisions and rivalries between the insurgents groups. The Islamic State like
its predecessor Al Qaeda in Iraq wanted to dominate all Sunni armed groups in
Iraq. In May it started
fighting the Naqshibandi and Ansar al-Sunna in the Hamrin area in an attempt to
undermine them with the hope that they could be taken over. Low level fighting
continued into June,
and by July, IS demanded that Ansar al-Islam
pledge allegiance to it, which it refused to do. By the end of August IS appeared to be
winning as several dozen Naqshibandi, Islamic Army and Mujahedeen Army members agreed
to join in the Jalawla area, while the Islamists continued to assassinate rival
leaders. A similar series of events played out across Iraq during the summer.
Many armed factions believed they were entering into an agreement amongst
equals to attack the government in June, but IS wanted to control them all.
Given its size, armaments, organization and ruthlessness it was eventually able
to incorporate many elements of these rivals groups into its own cadres.
Another conflict that emerged was a war over control of the
water system in the province. The Islamic State seized several dams and
irrigation systems in the center and northeastern half of Diyala and used them
to threaten the surrounding areas. In September
IS cut off water to Baladrooz, which prompted the ISF to try to retake the
area. That stalled
only after a few days. It then moved to the Sudour
Dam in Muqtadiya. IS was still in control of that facility at the start of October
and flooded two villages to block ISF operations in Sensl an IS base. In November
the security forces did take the Edheim dam in the north. Then in December
IS cut off the water to Baladrooz once again. This was another example of how
the militants had a strong presence in the rural areas of Diyala. They were
using them to attack the towns and cities of the province. This proved
especially difficult for the ISF and militias to counter as the continuous
security operations attested to.
Despite the constant back and forth the government declared
victory over the insurgency in January 2015. On January
23 a new operation started to clear Muqtadiya led by Hadi Ameri. In just a
few days, Ameri claimed
that the entire province was freed of militants. That was repeated by General
Abdul Amir al-Zaid who told the press that all cities, districts and
sub-districts in Diyala were secured.
Undermining his own statements, the general then said that a new operation was
going to be started in the Hamrin Mountains. Ameri and the general were
obviously getting ahead of themselves. While the militants in Muqtadiya were
scattered, they quickly regrouped in the Diyala
River Valley, Abu Saida and Mukhisa.
They still have a strong presence in the east as well meaning that there will
be continued sweeps to try to clear them out in 2015.
After the latest security operation IS has regrouped in Abu
Saida (BBC)
As insurgent violence increased in Diyala so did militia
retaliatory attacks. This recently hit the international papers when Shiite
groups allegedly killed 72 people in Barwana.
Any army officer told the New York Times that the militias were frustrated by
recent fighting in the area and carried out the murders in the town as revenge.
This was just the latest example of the simmering sectarian conflict in Diyala.
In March
2014, the town of Buhriz was temporarily taken over by IS. When SWAT and
militias retook it they burned three mosques and executed 23
young men. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was believed
to be behind the incident. In June,
during the panic of the summer attacks an imam and two aides were picked up by
militiamen in Sadiya and later found dead in a morgue, 44 prisoners were
executed outside of Baquba, and at the end of the month 23 men were found
executed in Muqtadiya.
The security forces were sometimes complicit in these attacks as Reuters
quoted a police captain in Baquba who said that they shared information with
militias to carry out extrajudicial killings. In August,
after the town of Imam Weis was attacked by IS, 34
people were shot in retaliation inside a mosque. Finally, in December
men in uniforms kidnapped three councilmen from Bani Saad outside of Baghdad.
Two were Shiite and were released, while the third who was Sunni was found shot
in the head. The incident was blamed on militias who were attempting to
dominate the town’s government. The situation had gotten so bad that a
parliamentary committee was set
up to investigate the destruction of homes and mosques during security
operations in January 2015, and Prime Minister Haier Abad pledged
that militias would not be allowed to continue with these types of abuses. Again,
this was exactly what happened in Diyala from 2005-2008. Militias responded in
kind ot insurgent attacks by targeting civilians. Sometimes this was in retaliation
and other times it was more deliberate to try to force people out of regions to
deny the militants their support base. As fighting picked up in the province
these incidents only increased.
Diyala is not a main battlefront between government and
insurgent forces, but it has all the hallmarks of Iraq’s on going conflict. It
was one of the provinces where the insurgency rebuilt itself in 2012. Likewise
it was one of the earliest places militias began deploying outside of Baghdad
to fight them. Today, despite official claims otherwise eastern Diyala is still
a major insurgent base. In fact, the statements about the governorate being
cleared probably means that it will still not receive the forces necessary to
clear and hold any areas, and repeated security operations will continue there
for the foreseeable future. That will allow the insurgents to continue to use
its bases to attack central Diyala and more importantly neighboring Salahaddin
and Baghdad, which has been its major role in the last few years.
SOURCES
Abi-Habib, Maria, “At Least 81
Iraqis Killed in Sunni Rebel Attack on Convoy,” Wall Street Journal, 6/23/14
Agence France Presse, “Iraq forces ‘liberate’ Diyala
province from IS: officer,” 1/26/15
- “Jihadists kill at least 10 in attack on Kurdish-held Iraq
town,” 10/20/14
-
“Kurdish Peshmerga forces launch attack to retake Iraq town of Jalawla from
jihadists,” 8/22/14
AIN,
“ISIL elements withdraw from Sa’diya villages,” 8/16/14
- “Military Operation starts in al-Adheim Dam area,”
11/12/14
Alsumaria, “Commander of the Tigris announce liberation of
four farming villages east of Baquba,” 10/25/14
- “Daash regain control of the largest neighborhoods in
Jalawla,” 8/2/14
- “Diyala security announces purge 95% of Muqdadiya,”
7/20/14
- “Jalawla announce its purge of the armed groups,” 7/24/14
- “A local official: Diyala region has become home to Daash
elements fleeing Sensl,” 1/30/15
- “Saadia Diyala announces
occurrence of security voids in some areas and demanding reinforcements,”
6/13/14
- “Security forces announce cleanse large areas of orchards
in Diyala,” 7/12/14
- “Tamimi: Daash cut a major river in Baquba, believes the
water serves more than 150 000 people,” 12/20/14
Aswat al-Iraq, “Killing 44 Sunnis
in Buhruz to prevent participation in elections, Mutahidoun, “ 3/31/14
Al-Atbi, Adam and Van Heuvelen,
Ben, “Militants continue Mansuriya attacks,” Iraq Oil Report, 6/27/14
Ayash, Sami, “Diyala villagers are crying out to be rescued
from militants,” Radio Free iraq, 1/30/15
Bas
News, “Peshmerga to Attack Strategic Town of Jalawla,” 8/11/14
Bradley, Matt and Nabhan, Ali,
“Fledgling Iraqi Military Is Outmatched on Battlefield,” Wall Street Journal,
4/27/14
Buratha News, “Ameri appeal to the people of Muqdadiyah to
leave the region before a heavy blow to Daash terrorists,” 12/28/14
- “Defense announces the death of more than 100 “terrorist”
and cleanse the 16 villages in Diyala,” 9/29/14
- “Diyala, demanding the security
forces rescue it from Daash terrorists,” 4/17/14
- “Diyala police and clans kill 20
Daash terrorists and cleanse the entire area of Mansuriya,” 6/26/14
- “Diyala police announced the killing of 40 Daash
terrorists north east of Baquba,” 10/30/14
- “Hadi al-Amiri receives general
supervision of the security file in Diyala province,” 6/13/14
- “Source revealed the outbreak of
“war of the severed heads” between rival armed terrorist factions in Diyala,”
7/28/14
Fahim, Kareem, “Government Allies Are Said to Have
Slaughtered Dozens of Sunnis in Iraq,” New York Times, 1/29/15
Al Forat, “37 Terrorists killed in Hemren Hills,” 10/28/14
- “Diyala: Large areas of Sidor, Nofal , Bloor liberated,”
9/20/14
- “Himreen Mountains purged of terrorists,” 11/28/14
- “ISF liberate 3 villages in Muqdadiyah,” 9/24/14
- “MoD declares purifying Adhem Dam of terrorists,” 11/14/14
-
“Peshmirga forces liberated Islahi village in Diyala from ISIL,” 8/17/14
Hubbard,
Ben, “Gunmen Massacre More Than 50 Sunni Worshipers in Central Iraq,” New York
Times, 8/22/14
Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Pro-Government Militias Trail of
Death,” 7/31/14
- “Iraq: Survivors Describe Mosque Massacre,” 11/2/14
Iraq Times, “Moussawi: reveals the end of military campaign
to lift the siege of Balad Ruz since last Saturday,” 9/13/14
- “Shammari announce the start of a military operation to
end the siege of water for the district of Baladruz,” 9/6/14
Jasim, Ali, “Governor of Diyala warns of collapse of the
security situation in Muqdadiyah after recording six assassinations,”
Alsumaria, 12/28/14
Jubouri, Adam, “Bahrez occupation
reveals the strained relationship between the parent and the local government
and the size of the sensitivity of sectarianism,” Al Mada, 3/25/14
Kakayi, Bestun, “ISIS controls a
number of polling stations,” Bas News, 4/28/14
Lewis, Jessica, “The Islamic State
Of Iraq Returns To Diyala,” Institute for the Study of War,” April 2014
Al Mada, “Parliament forms a committee to investigate the
burning of homes and mosques in Diyala and exonerate innocent mujahideen,”
1/26/15
- “Peshmerga popular brigades in Diyala: Daash fought with
us,” 11/30/14
- “Tigris Operations launched major security operation to
liberate northern Muqdadiyah areas: the end of the first phase of the plan and
freed some areas,” 1/23/15
Al Masalah, “Defense: fully cleanse the area of Daash in
Hamrin Mountains,” 7/14/14
National Iraqi News Agency, “12
Terrorists Killed In Diyala Province,” 12/1/14
- “/15/ element of the IS killed in a military operation in
the north east of Baquba,” 12/9/14
- “20 elements of ISIS killed, 10
vehicles burned in Mansuriyya area, of Diyala province,” 6/26/14
- “/30/ Elements of the IS killed in a military operation
northeast of Baquba,” 10/27/14
-
“Army controls a large part of Muqdadiya district,” 8/10/14
- “Cleansing Cohani villages in Mansuriya in Diyala,”
9/25/14
- “Cleansing villages located in the north-east of Baquba
from Daash domination,” 7/18/14
-
“Defense announces cleansing series of Hamrin Heights,” 8/9/14
- “Diyala police chief announces
cleansing the areas of Dawalib and Al-Sherwin in al
- “Four employees of the security forces injured in the
battles, northeast of Baquba,” 9/20/14
- “Freeing of three villages and killed four elements of
Daash northeast of Baquba,” 9/29/14
- “The IS drown two villages north of Muqdadiyah in Diyala,”
10/7/14
- “IS Executes Nine, Kidnapped Six Other In Qara Tabba,
Northeast of Baquba,” 10/20/14
- “Islamic State to Disqualify Four Of Its Field Leaders in
Diyala Province,” 11/8/14
- “Kurdish security cuts the supply of the (IS) in Hamrin
Basin, northeast of Baquba,” 9/9/14
- “Liberation of the eastern and western perimeters areas
surrounding al-Soudor dam in Diyala from the IS control,” 10/25/14
- Mansuriyya northeast of Baquba
from the control of the - “Islamic Party accuses some security elements of
complicity in the events in Bahrez,” 3/27/14
- “A military Operation Launched in Northeast of Diyala
province,” 7/12/14
- “A military operation launched to clear areas of northeast
Baquba from the control of the (IS),” 9/20/14
- “A military operation started to liberate the Hamrin basin
areas in Diyala of the IS control,” 11/13/14
- “More than /450/ volunteers from the tribes of Diyala are
willing to fight the IS and take it out of the villages of Sherwin in al-
Mansuriya,” 10/3/14
- “Mottahidoon coalition count the
armed attacks by militias in Diyala province as deliberate approach to achieve
demographic change,” 4/10/14
- “Peshmerga liberates a village was under Islamic State’s
control,” 9/15/14
- “Security forces control most
areas of Edhim district, north of Baquba,” 6/23/14
-
“The security forces seize control on Edhaym district in Diyala,” 8/11/14
- “A security source: A Military Operation To Cleanse
Agricultural Area south of - “A security source in Diyala: The IS organization
controls a number of villages east of Baquba,” 12/20/14
- “The start of a military operation to liberate Imam Wayis
in Diyala,” 11/18/14
- “Ten Terrorists Killed North of Baquba,” 10/24/14
- “Tigris Operations cleanses Mansouriet al-Jabal areas in
Diyala, killing 25 of the IS elements,” 10/29/14
- “Two villages liberated north of Muqdadiyah from the IS
control,” 11/27/14
New
Sabah, “70 militants of Naqshbandi and the Islamic Army and the Mujahideen Army
swear allegiance to Baghdadi,” 8/27/14
- “Council Diyala: sharp
differences between armed groups,” 5/5/14
- “With Arab nationalities are
trying to consolidate their image in the scene,” 7/20/14
Parker, Ned, “Iraq’s Maliki defies
call to reach out, accuses Saudis of ‘genocide,’” Reuters, 6/17/14
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4/27/14
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7/13/14
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more than two dozen in armed infighting going on between Daash and Naqshbandi,”
6/3/14
- “Video…the Iraqi army forces and the popular crowd
liberated areas in the city of Buhriz Diyala,” 11/5/14
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off foes: police,” Reuters, 7/31/14
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of Baquba from Daash control,” 11/26/14
- “”Ansar al-Sunna” renews his
refusal to swear allegiance to “Daash” in terms of Saadia northeast of Baquba,”
7/26/14
-“Diyala police announce clearing the villages of Bani Saad,
killing four Daash,” 11/28/14
- “Federal Police and the popular brigade waging a
three-pronged attack on Daash nests in Lake Hamrin,” 11/26/14
- “The displacement of 100 families from the villages north
of Muqdadiyah because of public executions by Daash,” 9/24/14
- “Peace Brigades liberated village in Muqdadiyah from
Daash,” 9/24/14
- “The people of Qara Tapa elements of Daash forced to
retreat westward,” 10/21/14
- “Security forces and the popular crowd purify the eastern
part of the helm’s irrigation northeast of Baquba,” 9/28/14
- “A security source reveals the infiltration of some Daash
elements in the valley of Jalawla Baquba,” 7/27/14
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militia abuse,” 1/31/15
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of Jalawla,” 7/31/14
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ISIS in Diyala and kill 30 ISIS elements,” 11/19/14
- “Peshmerga besiege Jalawla from three entrances and kill
dozens of insurgents,” 8/25/14
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liberate four villages,” 11/26/14
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