Renewed Offensive by Islamic State As Casualties Slightly Decrease In Iraq

 

The second week of February 2014 was marked by renewed Islamic State offensives in Anbar, Ninewa and Salahaddin. That led to an increase in attacks compared to the previous week when security incidents went down. Despite that upturn casualties actually dipped.

There were a reported 170 security incidents in Iraq in the second week of February. That was up from 155 the previous week. That was largely due to more attacks in Ninewa and Salahaddin. Baghdad once again had the most incidents overall at 49, followed by 33 in Salahaddin, 28 in Anbar and Ninewa each, 10 in Babil, five in Kirkuk, and four in Basra.

Those attacks led to 406 people killed and 559 wounded. The former consisted of 113 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 2 peshmerga, and 291 civilians, while the latter was made up of 114 ISF, 4 peshmerga, and 441 civilians. Baghdad had 107 deaths, Anbar 99, Salahaddin 98, 71 in Ninewa, 16 in Babil, 9 in Diyala, 5 in Kirkuk, and one in Basra. There were a total of 965 casualties for the week, which was actually slightly down from the 1,068 reported during the first week of the month.

Violence In Iraq By Week Jun. 2014-2015

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jun 1-7	228	612	1,020
Jun 8-14	234	1,889	890
Jun 15-21	179	803	759
Jun 22-28	203	733	777
Jun 29-30	59	127	236
JUN	901	4,172	3,701
Jul 1-7	203	526	651
Jul 8-14	214	577	628
Jul 15-21	230	444	1,009
Jul 22-28	224	589	801
Jul 29-31	66	163	230
JUL	937	2,299	3,319
Aug 1-8	269	1,122	885
Aug 9-14	179	710	1,152
Aug 15-21	150	354	499
Aug 22-28	156	523	798
Aug 29-31	59	125	289
AUG	813	2,834	3,623
Sep 1-7	168	616	751
Sep 8-14	156	433	722
Sep 15-21	166	620	749
Sep 22-28	153	395	573
Sep 29-30	47	112	252
SEP	690	2,176	3,047
Oct 1-7	170	451	687
Oct 8-14	188	532	875
Oct 15-21	156	449	770
Oct 22-28	159	345	592 + 1,230
Oct 29-31	68	570	227
OCT	741	2,347	3,151 + 1,230
Nov 1-7	153	601	828
Nov 8-14	128	420	593
Nov 15-21	134	283	464
Nov 22-28	138	321	640
Nov 29-30	40	206	510
NOV	593	1,831	3,035
Dec 1-7	137	323	476
Dec 8-14	156	233 + 166	444 + 1,113
Dec 15-21	133	377	340
Dec 22-28	161	558	432
Dec 29-31	91	117	233
DEC	678	1,774	3,038
Jan 1-7	184	434	464
Jan 8-14	170	730	493
Jan 15-21	182	390	515
Jan 22-28	189	466	894
Jan 29-31	90	288	529
JAN	815	2,308	2,895
Feb 1-7	155	380	688
Feb 8-14	170	406	559

Violence In Iraq By Province, Feb. 2015

Province	Feb 1-7	Feb 8-14
Anbar	35 Incidents 60 Killed: 9 ISF, 5 Sahwa, 46 Civilians 128 Wounded: 4 ISF, 8 Sahwa, 116 Civilians 14 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Suicide Motorcycle Bomb 2 Suicide Car Bombs 5 Mortars 1 Mine	28 Incidents 99 Killed: 26 ISF, 73 Civilians 19 Wounded: 19 Civilians 19 Shootings 1 IED 5 Suicide Bombers 4 Mortars 1 Rocket
Babil	10 Incidents 7 Killed: 2 ISF, 5 Civilians 27 Wounded: 7 ISF, 20 Civilians 5 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Grenade	10 Incidents 16 Killed: 3 ISF, 13 Civilians 49 Wounded: 10 ISF, 39 Civilians 3 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Car Bomb 1 Mine
Baghdad	57 Incidents 117 Killed: 2 ISF, 115 Civilians 355 Wounded: 10 ISF, 345 Civilians 19 Shootings 35 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers 3 Car Bombs	49 Incidents 107 Killed: 2 ISF, 105 Civilians 276: 11 ISF, 265 Civilians 14 Shootings 25 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers 6 Mortars
Diyala	5 Incidents 10 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 8 Peshmerga, 1 Civilian 2 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga 4 Shootings 1 IED	13 Incidents 9 Killed: 2 ISF, 7 Civilians 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 7 Shootings 1 IED 2 Sticky Bombs
Kirkuk	4 Incidents 2 Killed: 1 Peshmerga, 1 Civilian 4 Wounded: 4 Peshmerga 1 Shooting 2 IEDs 4 Car Bombs	5 Incidents 5 Killed: 5 Civilians 7 Wounded: 7 Civilians 3 Shootings 20 IEDs 1 Mortar
Ninewa	18 Incidents 107 Killed: 3 ISF, 104 Civilians 6 Wounded: 6 Civilians 11 Shootings 28 IEDs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 6 Car Bombs 1 Mortar	28 Incidents 71 Killed: 10 ISF, 2Peshmerga, 59 Civilians 23 Wounded: 4 Peshmerga, 19 Civilians 21 Shootings 9 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber
Salahaddin	25 Incidents 75 Killed: 34 ISF, 41 Civilians 165 Wounded: 38 ISF, 127 Civilians 14 Shootings 38 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 2 Suicide Car Bombs	33 Incidents 98 Killed: 70 ISF, 28 Civilians 178 Wounded: 93 ISF, 85 Civilians 19 Shootings 5 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 11 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Car Bomb 1 Mortar
Wasit	1 Incident 2 Killed: 2 Civilians 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting	-

Car Bombs In Iraq Feb. 2015

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Feb 1
Feb 2	Khabaz x4, Kirkuk Samarra, Salahaddin	21	26
Feb 3	Karrada x3, Baghdad	5	17
Feb 4	Haditha, Anbar		3
Feb 5	Ramadi, Anbar Jazeera, Salahaddin	13	13
Feb 6
Feb 7	Tigris Axis x7, Ninewa
Totals	18	39	59
Feb 8
Feb 9	Jabber x3 & Siniya, Salahaddin	20	35
Feb 10	Mahmudiya, Babil	4	11
Feb 11	Mahmudiya, Babil Camp Speicher x2, Dijla, Mikishifa, Muthanna Facility, Salahaddin	23	71
Feb 12	Mikishifa, Tikrit x2, Salahaddin	22	27
Feb 13
Feb 14
Totals	14	69	144

The Islamic State launched its second car bomb (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices) wave of the month from February 9 to 12. One bombing in Babil’s Mahmoudiya on February 10 was aimed at a market and causing civilian casualties. The other 13 were all on tactical targets such as the February 11 bombing of a checkpoint at the entrance to Mahmoudiya, along with the other 12 in Salahaddin which were almost all aimed at the ISF and militias. In December 2014 Iraq witnessed a two year low in VBIEDs. Since then IS has dramatically increased their use, mostly against hard targets rather than the usual terror attacks on places like restaurants, cafes, and shops.

February 12 IS began a new offensive upon Baghdadi in western Anbar. The assault began with two suicide bombers, and included up to 1,000 fighters. Most of the city was seized in the initial attack including the police station, and some of the government complex downtown. The insurgents also attacked the neighboring Ain Assad Air Base with 8 suicide bombers dressed in Iraqi uniforms, which is the home to 320 U.S. advisers training the Iraqi army. Coalition air strikes were immediately called in to try to turn back the attackers. Iraqi officials quickly said that the town was retaken, but fighting continues there. IS also attacked several other villages in the surrounding area to try to draw the ISF and tribes away and spread their forces. The assault upon Baghdadi was a dramatic one that threatened part of the U.S. led training effort in Iraq. At the same time, the inability to take the town and base on the first day allowed American air power to come in and kill and wound dozens and dozens of IS men. While many assaults had been made upon the city beforehand it is yet unknown whether this was the major push to seize it or just an attention grabbing event.

In Diyala insurgents have begun to regroup after being dispersed by the security sweep through Muqtadiya in January. Attacks went from 5 to 13 between the first two weeks of February. To show that they were making a come back there were four shootings and a kidnapping in the area that the government just claimed was cleared. This was more evidence that the announcements that the entire province was now free of militants were premature, and largely propaganda.

Ninewa also saw an uptick in violence during the week. IS continued attacks upon peshmerga positions in Sinjar, Makhmour, and Gwar. After several weeks of little activity the insurgents re-started attacks in Ninewa in January to the surprise of the Kurds. These gained no ground, but showed that the group was initiating a new effort to regain some of the territory that it had lost.

Finally in Salahaddin IS began a new series of attacks upon the central section of the province. Most of these were in the Tikrit and Samarra areas, which witnessed seven car bombs during the week. The ISF and militias on the other hand are overstretched in the governorate forcing them to carry out repeated operations in the same areas. For example, on February 8 Baiji was said to have been cleared, an area government forces had gone through in October, November and January. This is part of the Islamic State’s strategy in Salahaddin, to attack up and down the length of the province to spread out the army, police, and militias and keep them off balance.

SOURCES

AIN, "Car bomb explodes near Speicher Camp," 2/11/15

Alsumaria, "Killing and wounding 30 people in a suicide bombing targeting Muthanna facility south of Tikrit," 2/11/15

- "The killing of a police component and wounding five others in suicide bombing south of Tikrit," 2/11/15

Associated Press, "Iraq: Clashes attacks kill at least 31 people," 2/11/15

Al Forat, "14 Persons killed, wounded due to suicide bombing at Mahmodiya entrance," 2/11/15

- "Volunteers' brigades fully secure areas surrounding Baiji district," 2/8/15,

Iraq Times, "23 martyrs and wounded of the security forces in bombings targeted a power station in Salahuddin," 2/12/15

- "37 Martyrs and wounded in suicide bombings targeting the headquarters of the army in Samarra," 2/9/15

Al Mada, "26 elements of the security forces killed and wounded in clash with Daash south of Tikrit," 2/12/15

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "4 people killed, 10 injured in south Baghdad bombing," Iraqi News, 2/11/15

- "15 security forces elements killed, injured by two car bombs near Speicher Base," 2/11/15

NINA, "Breaking News.. /19/ elements of the popular crowd killed and wounded in a suicide attack north of Tikrit," 2/9/15

- "Two Suicide Bombers Blow Themselves In A Gathering Of Security Forces In Tikrit," 2/12/15

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Officials say attacks outside Iraq's capital kill 8 people," Associated Press, 2/10/15

Shafaq News, "Car bomb explosion and ISIS attack on the police force and the popular crowd in Samarra," 2/11/15

- "ISIS attack al-Baghdadi as two bombers blew themselves up inside it," 2/12/15

- "ISIS wages a series of bombing in Tikrit and destroys a power station and a school," 2/12/15

- "Suicide bombing targets Speicher base in Salahuddin," 2/11/15

Xinhua, "Bomb attacks, violence kill 9 in Iraq," 2/12/15