Islamic State Offensives Subside In Iraq 4th Week of April 2015

The Islamic State’s offensives in Anbar and Salahaddin began to trail off in the fourth week of April 2015. That was not before it was able to seize another army base in northern Anbar. IS also continued with a high rate of car bombings throughout the country. The government responded with concerted efforts to retake lost ground in the Ramadi and Thar Thar areas of Anbar, and the Baiji Refinery in Salahaddin. A sweep began through northern Diyala’s Qara Tapa as well in response to insurgent attacks there. The result was that casualties declined in Iraq from the previous two weeks.

There were 160 reported attacks in Iraq from April 22-28. The real numbers were probably much higher. Baghdad led the way with 66 security incidents, followed by 39 in Anbar, 19 in Salahaddin, 16 in Diyala, 11 in Ninewa, five in Kirkuk, and four in Babil.

Attacks have been going down in the near year. In January there were an average of 26.2 incidents per day. That went down to 23.3 in February, 22.2 in March, and 20.8 so far in April.

There were a reported 483 dead and 483 wounded in the fourth week of April. The former consisted of 2 peshmerga, 11 Hashd al-Shaabi, 231 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and 239 civilians. The latter was 36 Hashd, 50 ISF, and 397 civilians. Those figures were down from the previous weeks when there were 722 killed April 15-21, and 626 from April 8-14. Actual casualties are higher than what gets into the media.

The fighting in Anbar led to 254 fatalities. After that there were 108 in Baghdad, 39 in Kirkuk, 27 in Salahaddin, 26 in Diyala, 22 in Ninewa, and seven in Babil.

Violence In Iraq By Week 2015

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
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
Feb 15-21	165	573	364
Feb 22-28	165	371	687 + 386
FEB	655	1,730	2,683
Mar 1-7	172	372	587
Mar 8-14	133	348	656
Mar 15-21	142	1,299	503
Mar 22-28	170	235	406
Mar 29-31	72	205	219
MAR	689	2,459 + 4	2,371 + 150
Apr 1-7	121	212	422
Apr 8-14	133	626	525
Apr 15-21	169	722	714
Apr 22-28	160	483	483

Violence In Iraq By Province Apr 2015

Province	Apr 1-7	Apr 8-14
Anbar	22 Incidents 60 Killed: 4 ISF, 56 Civilians 72 Wounded: 72 Civilians 13 Shootings 2 IEDs 4 Mortars 1 Rocket	33 Incidents 411 Killed: 66 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 343 Civilians 128 Wounded: 9 ISF, 31 Sahwa, 88 Civilians 21 Shootings 2 IEDs 4 Suicide Bombers 7 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Car Bomb 5 Mortars 1 Rockets
Babil	3 Incidents 4 Killed: 1 ISF, 3 Civilians 11 Wounded: 4 ISF, 7 Civilians 2 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb	4 Incidents 7 Killed: 7 Civilians 16 Wounded: 16 Civilians 1 Shooting 3 IEDs 1 Car Bomb
Baghdad	44 Incidents 63 Killed: 7 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 55 Civilians 196 Wounded: 13 ISF, 183 Civilians 8 Shootings 25 IEDs 4 Sticky Bombs 2 Car Bombs 1 Mortar 1 Rocket 1 Grenade	36 Incidents 90 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 7 Hashd, 82 Civilians 299 Wounded: 1 ISF, 5 Sahwa, 16 Hashd, 277 Civilians 5 Shootings 17 IEDs 4 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Suicide Car Bomb 8 Car Bombs 1 Mortar
Basra	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 ISF 1 Shooting	-
Diyala	10 Incidents 23 Killed: 10 ISF, 1 Hashd, 12 Civilians 92 Wounded: 12 ISF, 69 Hashd, 11 Civilians 7 Shootings 1 IED 1 Car Bomb	8 Incidents 6 Killed: 2 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 3 Civilians 18 Wounded: 7 ISF, 4 Sahwa, 7 Civilians 3 Shootings 5 IEDs
Kirkuk	4 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Hashd 2 Shootings 1 IED	3 Incidents 7 Killed: 7 Civilians 6 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 3 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Mortar
Maysan	-	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian
Ninewa	7 Incidents 12 Killed: 2 YPG, 4 Hashd, 6 Civilians 2 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga 5 Shootings	17 Incidents 34 Killed: 34 Civilians 8 Wounded: 4 Peshmerga, 4 Civilians 13 Shootings 3 IEDs
Salahaddin	30 Incidents 48 Killed: 26 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 14 Hashd, 5 Civilians 50 Wounded: 25 ISF, 14 Hashd, 11 Civilians 22 Shootings 3 IEDs 2 Suicide Bombers 2 Mortars 1 Grenade	30 Incidents 70 Killed: 34 ISF, 4 Sahwa, 11 Hashd, 21 Civilians 50 Wounded: 11 ISF, 2 Sahwa, 24 Hashd, 13 Civilians 21 Shootings 5 IEDs 5 Suicide Bombers 4 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Car Bombs 2 Mortars

Province	Apr 15-21	Apr 22-28
Anbar	38 Incidents 123 Killed: 37 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 85 Civilians 221 Wounded: 106 ISF, 1 Hashd, 114 Civilians 27 Shootings 3 IEDs 4 Suicide Car Bombs 5 Car Bombs 4 Mortars	39 Incidents 254 Killed: 216 ISF, 38 Civilians 95 Wounded: 33 ISF, 62 Civilians 24 Shootings 2 IEDs 10 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Car Bomb 2 Mortars
Babil	4 Incidents 5 Killed: 4 ISF, 1 Civilian 17 Wounded: 6 ISF, 11 Civilians 4 IEDs	4 Incidents 7 Killed: 7 Civilians 26 Wounded: 3 ISF, 23 Civilians 2 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 1 Mortar
Baghdad	50 Incidents 97 Killed: 7 ISF, 4 Sahwa, 86 Civilians 261 Wounded: 17 ISF, 5 Sahwa, 239 Civilians 7 Shootings 35 IEDs 5 Sticky Bombs 2 Car Bombs 1 Mortar	66 Incidents 108 Killed: 3 ISF, 105 Civilians 264 Wounded: 7 ISF, 257 Civilians 15 Shootings 29 IEDs 11 Sticky Bombs 6 Car Bombs 1 Rockets
Basra	1 Incident	-
Diyala	22 Incidents 25 Killed: 5 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 17 Civilians 22 Wounded: 6 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 5 Hashd, 8 Civilians 11 Shootings 6 IEDs 2 Rockets	16 Incidents 26 Killed: 1 ISF, 25 Civilians 15 Wounded: 5 ISF, 10 Civilians 7 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Car Bomb 1 Mortar
Irbil	1 Incident 5 Killed: 5 Civilians 17 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 15 Civilians 1 Car Bomb	-
Kirkuk	11 Incidents 55 Killed: 2 ISF, 4 Hashd, 18 Peshmerga, 31 Civilians 131 Wounded: 8 ISF, 39 Peshmerga, 58 Hashd, 26 Civilians 6 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar 1 Rockets	5 Incidents 39 Killed: 5 Hashd, 34 Civilians 33 Wounded: 33 Hashd 5 Shootings
Ninewa	13 Incidents 26 Killed: 4 ISF, 18 Peshmerga, 4 Civilians 9 Shootings 3 IEDs	11 Incidents 22 Killed: 5 ISF, 2 Peshmerga, 15 Civilians 15 Wounded: 15 Civilians 7 Shootings 1 IED 1 Artillery
Salahaddin	29 Incidents 386 Killed: 27 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 35 Hashd, 321 Civilians 45 Wounded: 28 ISF, 8 Hashd, 9 Civilians 23 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 1 Mortar	19 Incidents 27 Killed: 6 ISF, 6 Hashd, 15 Civilians 35 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Hashd, 30 Civilians 13 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar

Car Bombs in Iraq Apr 2015

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Apr 1
Apr 2	Bab al-Mudham, Baghdad	7	26
Apr 3
Apr 4	Mansour, Baghdad
Apr 5
Apr 6	Imam Abdullah bin Imam Ali al-Hadi shrine, Diyala	4	7
Apr 7
Total	3	11	33
Apr 8
Apr 9
Apr 10	Albu Faraj x5, Ramadi x2, Anbar Karrada, Baghdad	5	13
Apr 11	Baiji Refinery x3, Salahaddin
Apr 12	Amiriya Fallujah, Anbar Baiji Refinery x2, Salahaddin
Apr 13	Amil & Baya, Baghdad	15	60
Apr 14	Mahmudiya, Babil East, Mashtal, Waziriya, Wihda x2, Yarmouk, Baghdad Baiji Refinery, Salahaddin	46	97
Total	24	66	170
Apr 15	Shjariya & Sufiya x4, Anbar	1
Apr 16
Apr 17	Baghdadi, Anbar Amil & Habibiya, Baghdad Irbil, Irbil	41	73
Apr 18	Baghdadi x3, Anbar Bashir, Salahaddin	2	7
Apr 19
Apr 20	West of Baiji, Salahaddin	2	4
Apr 21
Total	14	46	84
Apr 22	West of Albu Hayat, Anbar Talibiya, Baghdad Ishaqi, Salahaddin	16	36
Apr 23	Thar Thar x3, Anbar
Apr 24	Thar Thar & Trebil x4, Anbar	21	20
Apr 25	Sakarah, Anbar
Apr 26	Nukhaib, Anbar Mahmudiya, Babil Amil & Khilani Sq, Baghdad	22	58
Apr 27	Amil, Baya, Mansour, Baghdad Qazanya, Diyala	19	50
Apr 28
Total	21	78	164

IS maintained its high level of vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs). From April 22-28 there were 21 such attacks leading to 78 dead and 164 wounded. Far more were destroyed before reaching their targets. There were 11 in Anbar during the week. Four were used in assaults in Thar Thar, four on the Trebil border crossing, and one against an army convoy outside of Albu Hayat, one against an army base in Nukhaib, and another one killed the commander of the army’s 1^st Division in Anbar. The other ten were all against civilians in Babil, Baghdad, Diyala and Salahaddin. In previous months IS had moved away from hitting Baghdad, but that has returned as a prime target with six during the week.

For the last two weeks there has been intense fighting in Anbar. IS continued its push in the province seizing another army base in Thar Thar north of Fallujah. That was the third that fell in the area in the last month. This followed IS’s surge in the Ramadi area when it took several of the surrounding villages and made another attempt at taking the entire city the week before. From April 22-28 IS carried out attacks in Ramadi, Albu Jassim, Jazeera, Shurta, Shjariya, Baghdadi, and a border crossing with Saudi Arabia. The government forces responded by trying to retake Sufiya, Albu Soda, Albu Khanafar, Albu Salman, Albu Dhiab, Thar Thar, and sections of Ramadi. It also finally began its push to take back Garma to the east of Fallujah after having surrounded the city for several weeks. Still the militant’s attacks seemed to seize the initiative in the governorate and disrupted Baghdad’s plans for a major push in the area. It also led to a heated debate over whether the Hashd forces would be allowed into Anbar in large numbers. There are already Hashd units in the province in Garma for example, but there is no consensus about their presence amongst Anbaris.

There was a decided uptick in attacks in Baghdad. There were 66 reported incidents during the week the most since July 15-21. In the last two days of the week there were 19 and 15 attacks respectively when before the province only had around 5-7 per day. There were six car bombs from April 22-28, but IEDs, 29 for the week, were the main drivers of violence. Despite the increase the number of casualties remained largely the same with 97 dead the week before and 108 last week and 261 wounded April 15-21 compared to 264 April 22-28. Despite all the fighting in places like Anbar and Salahaddin, Baghdad has continued to be the most dangerous part of the country routinely having the most attacks.

In Diyala, insurgent activity remained at the same steady level. There was a car bomb in Qazanya in the Baladrooz area on April 27. On April 22 and 23 two mass graves were discovered in Sadiya and Akbai respectively with 11 and 8 bodies each. A U.N. official was also kidnapped in Baquba on April 26. The Diyala security committee has been warning of IS sleeper cells in the province. That led to a security sweep through Qara Tapa in the north starting on April 26. Like many other provinces the government lacks the manpower to hold many areas in Diyala after they are cleared.

IS continued to fight for the Baiji Refinery in Salahaddin. The Islamic State attacked the facility the same time it began its assault in Ramadi. Like Anbar this up ended government plants to secure the area. Fighting was on going at the refinery and the neighboring villages during the week.

SOURCES

AIN, "A security source: the martyrdom and wounding of 18 people including a local official in the attack on Trebil," 4/25/15

- "Tank explosion on an army convoy without injuries west of Ramadi," 4/22/15

- "Urgent martyrdom and wounding 13 visitors in a suicide attack south of Samarra," 4/22/15

Alsumaria, “Diyala Security warns of worsening security sleeper cells activities creating ‘sectarian sedition,”” 4/25/15

- "Qara Tapa area of Diyala announce the start of a broad campaign to hunt down sleeper cells," 4/26/15, - "Two dead and four wounded toll of bombing southwest Baghdad neighborhood," 4/27/15

Associated Press, "Car bombs kill at least 18 civilians in Iraq," 4/26/15

- "Iraqi officials: Car bomb kills at least 7 civilians in busy Baghdad commercial area," 4/27/15

Al Forat, "Death toll of Mahmodiya bombing reach 18 deaths, injuries," 4/26/15

- "MoD: ISF is about to end ISIL presence north Fallujah," 4/25/15,

- "MoD: Old road of karma sub district liberated along with 4 villages southeast Anbar," 4/23/15,

- "Southwestern Baghdad bombing result in killing, injuring 18 civilians," 4/26/15

Al Mada, "14 Daash elements killed east of Fallujah in clashes," 4/22/15

- "Death toll rises to 29 dead and wounding in bombing in Jamila," 4/22/15

- "Killing and wounding 23 people in a suicide bombing targeting visitors to western country of Samarra," 4/22/15

Al Masalah, “Popular crowd involved in Garma clearing operations,” 4/28/15

NINA, "A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber exploded at an army point east of al-Ratba," 4/25/15

- "Commandos and Special Operations forces are trying terrorism I Anbar and Al-Sajaria," 4/25/15

- "Security forces repel an attack by Daash in central Ramadi," 4/22/15

- "Three civilians wounded in east of Baquba," 4/27/15

NINA, "Two Areas In Ramadi Liberated," 4/23/15,

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "4/28/15

Radio Free Iraq, "22 April 2015," Daily Updates from Anbar, 4/22/15

- "23 April 2015," Daily Updates from Anbar, 4/23/15,

- "26 April 2015," Daily Updates from Anbar, 4/26/15

Reuters, "Car bombs, suicide attack kill at least 22 in Iraq," 4/26/15

Rudaw, “Shiite leader: Hashd al-Shaabi will move to Anbar ‘even without authorization,’” 4/28/15

Salaheddin, Sinan and Yacoub, Sameer, "Car bombs driven by foreigners hit Iraq-Jordan border post," Associated Press, 4/25/15

- "Iraqi army claims progress in Anbar amid Baghdad bombings," Associated Press, 4/26/15

Shafaq News, "Abduction of Director of United Nations mission office in Diyala," 4/26/15

- "Recovered eight bodies from a mass grave and obtaining approval to dig up another one in Diyala," 4/23/15

- "Recovered the remains of 11 bodies from a cemetery of victims executed by Daash in Diyala," 4/22/15

Shafiq, Mohammed, "Interior thwarts an attempt by Daash on a border station near the Iraqi-Saudi border," Alsumaria, 4/25/15

Xinhua, "Iraqi troops wage tit-for-tat battles with IS in Anbar," 4/23/15

Zee News, "Senior officers killed in Iraq's Anbar: General," 4/25/15