Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Baiji & Refinery Retaken As Iraq Forces Push Into Northern Salahaddin


Iraq’s joint forces won a major victory during the third week of October 2015 retaking the town of Baiji, which had been contested for over a year. Not only that, but they continued to push north towards Shirqat district and into southern Kirkuk’s Hawija, which are both Islamic State strongholds. On the other hand, the Anbar offensive continued to churn through many of the same areas, while IS also picked up its attacks in Diyala.

There were 142 security incidents in Iraq reported in the press from October 15-21, 2015. Baghdad had the most attacks with 50, followed by 28 in Anbar, 23 in Salahaddin, 18 in Diyala, 9 each in Babil and Kirkuk, 4 in Ninewa, and 1 in Basra.

Those incidents led to 208 deaths and 279 injured. There were 2 Sahwa, 22 Hashd al-Shaabi, 22 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 162 civilians killed, and 1 Peshmerga, 4 Sahwa, 17 ISF, 40 Hashd, and 217 civilians wounded.

Salahaddin had the most deaths with 84. After that there were 48 fatalities in Baghdad, 24 in Kirkuk, 16 in Diyala, 15 in Ninewa, 12 in Anbar, and 9 in Babil. More people died during the week, but the government did not report them or they were not covered in the media. In Anbar for example, where there was major fighting everyday with several security operations simultaneously going on there were no casualties mentioned for five out of seven days of the week.

Violence In Iraq By Week 2015
Date
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
Jan 1-7
205
466
464
Jan 8-14
177
733
518
Jan 15-21
193
403
528
Jan 22-28
197
492
899
Jan 29-31
91
306
568
JAN
862
2,400
2,977
Feb 1-7
159
408
688
Feb 8-14
178
443
566
Feb 15-21
175
592
383
Feb 22-28
178
391
730
FEB
690
1,834
2,367
Mar 1-7
186
373
595
Mar 8-14
156
398
656
Mar 15-21
170
1,304
505
Mar 22-28
186
273
406
Mar 29-31
76
205
219
MAR
775
2,553 + 4
2,381 + 150
Apr 1-7
130
218
422
Apr 8-14
140
674
531
Apr 15-21
175
729
717
Apr 22-28
167
497
483
Apr 29-30
51
162 + 7
182 + 299
APR
662
2,287
2,335
May 1-7
159
627
450
May 8-14
161
420
549
May 15-21
127
963
387
May 22-28
114
341 + 1,499
348
May 29-31
38
66
164 + 646
MAY
599
2,417 + 1,499
1,898 + 646
Jun 1-7
133
431
476
Jun 8-14
126
522 + 405
394
Jun 15-21
141
365
373
Jun 22-28
162
306
474
Jun 29-30
61
122
189
JUN
623
1,804
2,012
Jul 1-7
161
435
719
Jul 8-14
140
384
570
Jul 15-21
109
359
597 + 4,024
Jul 22-28
145
527
590
Jul 29-31
53
193 + 260
203
JUL
608
2,166
3,079 + 4,024
Aug 1-7
154
650 + 760
298
Aug 8-14
133
756
640
Aug 15-21
135
345
354
Aug 22-28
136
342
296
Aug 29-31
59
112 + 5
169
AUG
617
2,205 + 760
1,757
Sep 1-7
139
285
352
Sep 8-14
144
368
394
Sep 15-21
123
323
488
Sep 22-28
128
190
258
Sep 29-30
39
106 + 19
147 + 8
SEP
573
1,291 + 314
1,647 + 3,003
Oct 1-7
105
291
398
Oct 8-14
145
254
388
Oct 15-21
142
208
279

Security by Province Oct 2015
Provinces
Oct 1-7
Oct 8-14
Anbar
12 Incidents
72 Killed: 2 ISF, 70 Civilians
3 Wounded: 3 ISF
4 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Suicide Bomber Killed
1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed
10 Car Bombs Destroyed
19 Incidents
26 Killed: 1 Hashd, 3 ISF, 22 Civilians
28 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 12 Civilians, 13 ISF
5 Shootings
4 IEDs
2 Mortars
1 Artillery
16 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
10 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil
7 Incidents
4 Killed: 1 ISF, 3 Civilians
26 Wounded: 4 ISF, 22 Civilians
5 IEDs
6 Incidents
7 Killed: 2 ISF, 5 Civilians
36 Wounded: 5 ISF, 31 Civilians
1 Shooting
4 IEDs
1 Car Bomb
1 Grenade
Baghdad
48 Incidents
94 Killed: 4 ISF, 90 Civilians
241 Wounded: 13 ISF, 228 Civilians
13 Shootings
24 IEDs
3 Sticky Bombs
24 IEDs
3 Sticky Bombs
2 Suicide Car Bombs
2 Car Bombs
1 Suicide Bomber Killed
58 Incidents
69 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 2 Sahwa, 65 Civilians
196 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 3 Sahwa, 5 ISF, 185 Civilians
16 Shootings
28 IEDs
8 Sticky Bombs
1 Grenade
1 Stabbing
1 Rockets
Basra
3 Incidents
11 Killed: 11 Civilians
30 Wounded: 30 Civilians
1 Shooting
1 Sound Bomb
1 Car Bomb
1 Incident
1 Sticky Bomb
Diyala
4 Incidents
40 Killed: 40 Civilians
75 Wounded: 75 Civilians
1 Shooting
1 Car Bomb
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
8 Incidents
38 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 36 Civilians
58 Wounded: 58 Civilians
2 IEDs
4 Mortars
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Kirkuk
13 Incidents
10 Killed: 10 Civilians
16 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 14 Civilians
5 Shootings
4 IEDs
2 Rockets
4 Incidents
12 Killed: 2 ISF, 10 Civilians
1 Shooting
1 IED
KRG
-
2 Incidents
35 Killed: 35 PKK
2 Turkish Air Strikes
Maysan
-
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
1 Shooting
Ninewa
6 Incidents
49 Killed: 7 Peshmerga, 42 Civilians
3 Shootings
9 Incidents
39 Killed: 4 Peshmerga, 35 Civilians
1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga
6 Shootings
Qadisiyah
-
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
1 Sticky Bomb
Salahaddin
12 Incidents
11 Killed: 1 ISF, 10 Civilians
7 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 6 ISF
7 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Mortar
35 Incidents
26 Killed: 6 ISF, 8 Hashd, 12 Civilians
69 Wounded: 13 Hashd, 22 Civilians, 34 ISF
10 Shootings
11 IEDs
1 Suicide Bomber
5 Suicide Car Bombs
11 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
7 Car Bombs Destroyed

Provinces
Oct 15-21
Anbar
28 Incidents
12 Killed: 3 Civilians, 3 Hashd, 6 ISF
8 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 5 Civilians
5 Shootings
1 Mortar
1 Rockets
2 Car Bombs
14 Suicide Bombers Killed
7 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
23 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil
9 Incidents
9 Killed: 3 ISF, 6 Civilians
35 Wounded: 14 ISF, 21 Civilians
1 Shooting
6 IEDs
2 Car Bombs
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Baghdad
50 Incidents
48 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 46 Civilians
149 Wounded: 4 Sahwa, 145 Civilians
10 Shootings
29 IEDs
4 Sticky Bombs
1 Grenade
1 Mortar
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Basra
1 Incident
1 IED
Diyala
18 Incidents
16 Killed: 1 ISF, 15 Civilians
21 Wounded: 21 Civilians
3 Shootings
6 IEDs
1 Sticky Bomb
5 Mortars
Kirkuk
9 Incidents
24 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 22 Civilians
1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga
3 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Mine
Ninewa
4 Incidents
15 Killed: 5 Civilians, 10 ISF
2 Shootings
11 IEDs
Salahaddin
23 Incidents
84 Killed: 1 ISF, 18 Hashd, 65 Civilians
65 Wounded: 3 ISF, 25 Civilians, 37 Hashd
6 Shootings
5 IEDs
1 Sticky Bomb
1 Mortar
4 Suicide Bombers Killed
3 Suicide Motorcycle Bombers Killed
1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed
10 Car Bombs Destroyed


In Anbar the government’s forces made some headway in northern and southern Ramadi, but were also stuck in others. During the week Albu Risha was finally cleared after eleven days of fighting. The Howaz neighborhood of Ramadi was reached on October 18, and the joint forces were said to be just 500 meters away from the Anbar Operations Command by October 21. The government was also able to free 350 people in the Thar Thar district who were besieged by insurgents. At the same time, in Ramadi the residential area of the Tamim neighborhood was cleared for the second time, and the ceramics factory for the third time. The Albu Aetha Bridge and Albu Jassim were freed for the second time as well. The push through Albu Faraj continued even thought it was declared cleared on October 6 and 14. The joint forces made another attempt to clear the Baghdadi area. It’s important because the Ain Assad Base is just to the west. Likewise, a new push was made on central Garma in eastern Anbar, which the government has tried to take since March. With all that fighting only 12 people were reported killed and 8 wounded, showing the effect of government censorship.

Background To Security Operations Oct 15-21, 2015 Since Start Of Anbar Offensive
Albu Aetha
Albu Atwan
Albu Dujail
Albu Faraj
Albu Jassim
Jul 20 Reached
Oct 19 Operation
Oct 19 Operation
Aug 20 Operation
Jul 14 Cleared
Jul 23 Reached


Sep 13 Operation
Aug 29 Operation
Jul 24 Albu Aetha-Ramadi road cleared


Oct 4 East cleared
Oct 7 Operation
Jul 26 Albu Aetha-Ramadi road cleared


Oct 5 Albu Faraj Bridge Attacked
Oct 21 Cleared
Jul 27 Albu Aetha Bridge cleared


Oct 6 Cleared

Aug 21 Cleared


Oct 8 Albu Faraj Road cleared

Sep 9 Albu Aetha-Jeraishi op


Oct 9 Road from Albu Faraj to Japanese Bridge cleared

Oct 6 Reached


Oct 14 Cleared

Oct 18 Albu Aetha Bridge cleared


Oct 18 Albu Faraj Bridge & Sit In Square cleared


Albu Risha
Baghdadi
Garma
Ramadi
Thar Thar
Oct 7 Mostly cleared
Jul 30 Operation
Jul 13 Sjar Daway cleared
Jul 22 Anbar Ops Command attacked
Sep 19 Cleared
Oct 18 Cleared
Aug 24 Operation
Jul 15 Kanatir, Rashad, Bukhnfar, Mashniya, Subaihat cleared
Jul 26 Tamim reached
Sep 26 Thar Thar Lake to Jeraishi cleared

Sep 25 Operation
Jul 21 Niamiya, Hitaween, Zbaan, Sidan, Anaz Operation
Jul 27 Residential area of Tamim & Ceramics Factory cleared
Oct 9 Northeast operation

Oct 1 Operation
Jul 22 Cleared
Jul 30 Tamim cleared
Oct 21 Operation freed 350 people

Oct 15 Outskirts cleared
Aug 11 Garma Bridge cleared
Sep 18 Tamim operation


Oct 16 East cleared
Aug 11 70% cleared
Oct 6 Anbar Ops Command attacked


Oct 17 Majid cleared
Aug 29 Operation
Oct 8 Tamim operation



Sep 26 Garma Dam operation
Oct 9 Ceramics Factory cleared



Oct 18 Central Garma operation
Oct 10 2km from Anbar Ops Command



Oct 19 35% of  Central Garma cleared
Oct 15 Residential area of Tamim cleared




Oct 16 Ceramics Factory, Min of Trade Warehouse, Tamim cleared




Oct 18 Palestine Bridge, Shamiya Palace cleared




Oct 18 Howaz Operation




Oct 21 500m from Anbar Ops Command


Violence remained at a low level in Babil with just 9 incidents there during the third week of October. At the same time, three of those attacks involved car bombs. On October 19 two went off in Yusifiya, and two days before one was dismantled. These types of incidents have increased in the province during the on going IS car bomb campaign. 

South Baghdad was the most violent region of the province during the week. There were 17 incidents there including mortar fire on an outer village and 10 IEDs. East Baghdad had 10 incidents, 6 of which were IEDs that were the work of the Islamic State. The north had 9 incidents including a car bomb being dismantled. The center and west had 6 incidents each, and two IEDs were dismantled in undisclosed locations in the governorate.

Violence In Baghdad Oct 15-21, 2015
Center: 6 – 1 Shooting/Robbery, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Kidnappings, 2 IEDs
East: 9 – 1 Shooting/Robbery, 3 Shootings, 5 IEDs
Outer East: 1 – 1 IED
North: 7 – 1 Car Bomb Dismantled, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 4 IEDs
Outer North: 2 – 2 IEDs
South: 11 - 2 Kidnappings, 2 Shootings, 8 IEDs
Outer South: 6 – 1 Grenade, 1 Mortar, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs
West: 6 – 1 Robbery, 2 Sticky Bombs, 3 IEDs
Unknown: 2 – 2 IEDs

Diyala witnessed the most violent week since the middle of May. There were 18 attacks there from October 15-21. IS unleashed a barrage of mortars on Abu Saida and Mukhisa for five out of seven days. The former is an IS base and the latter is nearby. It was one of the rare weeks where no car bombs went off in the province, but there were six IEDs including one in a market in Baquba that killed 5 and wounded 11 on October 19.

The Islamic State executed 15 people in Ninewa from October 15-21. That included two lawyers and three women in Mosul and 10 police in Hamam al-Aleel. The group also blew up the Agriculture College in that latter town and destroyed 10 Shabak homes in Kokjila.

The major story of the week was the retaking of Baiji in Salahaddin. The town had been bitterly fought over since June 2015, and a massive operation by Hashd, ISF and Sunni tribes finally swept through the area in just a matter of days. Baiji itself was finally cleared on October 20. That was on top of the refinery finally being cleared days before. Not satisfied with that, the joint forces continued to push north into the Makhoul and Hamrin Mountains and Fatah in northern Salahaddin. Another force went east and cleared a few towns in Hawija, which is in southern Kirkuk. This was the biggest victory since Tikrit was taken in March. The Hashd seemed to have learned from that operation as they employed several thousand local tribal fighters to hold areas that were cleared perhaps hoping to avoid the looting and property destruction that followed the taking of Tikrit.

There have been car bombs 17 out of the first 21 days of October. There were thirteen straight days of vehicle bone improvised explosive (VBIEDs) from October 9 to 21. During the third week of the month Anbar and Salahaddin were again the main targets as IS attempted to use car bombs against the government offensives. There were 31 VBIEDs in Anbar. Two were being disarmed by the ISF when they exploded, while the other 29 were blown up before reaching their targets. In Salahaddin 11 were destroyed all in the Baiji district. One was dismantled in Baghdad, and then there were three more in Babil with one being discovered before its detonation.

Car Bombs In Iraq, October 2015
Date
Location
Dead
Wounded
Oct 1



Oct 2



Oct 3
Hurriya & Kadhimiya x2, Baghdad
Ramadi & Rashad, Anbar – 7 destroyed
29
74
Oct 4
Subhait, Anbar – 1 destroyed


Oct 5
Husseiniya, Baghdad
Zubayr, Basra
Khalis, Diyala
Bawih, Diyala – 1 destroyed
63
124
Oct 6



Oct 7
Ramadi, Anbar – 3 destroyed


Totals
6 – 12 Destroyed
92
198
Oct 8



Oct 9
Garma, Anbar – 2 destroyed


Oct 10
Tarmiya, Salahaddin
Husaiba, north of Ramadi & Thar Thar, Anbar – 15 destroyed
3
10
Oct 11
Albu Jilab, Anbar Univ, Ramadi, Anbar – 8 destroyed
Baquba, Diyala – 1 destroyed


Oct 12
Mahmudiya, Babil
Baiji x4, Salahaddin
North of Ramadi, Anbar – 1 destroyed
3
30
Oct 13
Baiji & Siniya, Salahaddin – 8 destroyed


Oct 14
West of Baiji & Siniya, Salahaddin – 10 destroyed


Totals
6 – 45 Destroyed
6
40
Oct 15
Albu Aetha & Albu Faraj, Anbar – 7 destroyed
Baiji & Siniya, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed


Oct 16
Baghdadi, Anbar – 3 destroyed


Oct 17
Baghdadi & Thar Thar, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Jbala, Babil – 1 destroyed
Sheikh Hamad, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Sukariat, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed


Oct 18
Albu Faraj, Albu Risha, Garma, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Siniya, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed


Oct 19
Yusifiya x2, Babil
Baghdadi & Hit, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Siniya, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed
2
12
Oct 20
Albu Jalib, Amiriya, East Husaiba, Anbar – 6 destroyed
Baiji, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed


Oct 21
Albu Gleb & Amiriya Fallujah, Anbar
Albu Gleb, Amiriya Fallujah & ?, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Baiji Refinery, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
6

Totals
4 - 42 Destroyed
8
12

SOURCES

AIN, "ISF kill 52 terrorists in Anbar," 10/16/15
- "Security forces seized two car bombs and arrested three terrorists in Amiriyah Fallujah," 10/21/15

Alsumaria, "Dismantled two car bombs bearing Kuwait registration plants in Al-Baghdadi," 10/19/15

Habib, Mustafa, “Competition Is Good for Business: Did US-Russia tensions Help Bring Iraq Victory in Baiji and Anbar?” Niqash, 10/22/15

Al Mada, "Anbar crowd: the start of a military operation inside the center of Garma and the killing of dozens of Daash," 10/18/15
- "The joint forces approaching the Anbar Operations headquarters from north Ramadi," 10/21/15,
- "The joint forces liberated areas in Baiji, and Iraqi Aviation destroyed headquarters in Ramadi," 10/21/15
- "War media cell announce fully freeing Baiji and demanding that social networking sites reveal the "falsities of Daash,"" 10/20/15

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "Iraqi Anti-Terrorism announces the liberation of Albu Risha area north of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 10/18/15,

Al Masalah, "Broke the siege of 350 people trapped in Thar Thar," 10/22/15
- "Media declares victories by the joint forces," 10/18/15
- "Media declares war victories by joint forces," 10/15/15

New Sabah, "Security file," 10/20/15

NINA, "Babylon police dismantled a car bomb north of the province," 10/17/15
- "Daash blow up Agriculture college building south of Mosul," 10/20/15
- "Daash blow up ten "houses belonging to Shabak minority east of Mosul," 10/20/15
- "Daash executed two lawyers in Mosul Criminal Court," 10/16/15
- "Daash Executes 3 Women of (Khansa Jihadist Cell) In Central Mosul," 10/18/15
- "Daash Executes Ten Police officer In Mosul," 10/17/15
- "Federal Police Achieves All Its Goals In Baiji And Progressing To Cleanse Makhoul Mountains," 10/17/15
- "Federal Police Destroys Truck Bombs, Car Parking Weapons For Daash In Sinia and Hawija," 10/19/15
- "The Federal Police Kill Dozens Of Terrorists, Seize Their Vehicles In Baiji," 10/15/15

Al Rayy, "Air Force destroyed a truck bomb and killed a suicide bomber and many members of the Soldiers of the Caliphate in Hit," 10/19/15
- "Killing five civilians and wounding 11 in bombing of Baquba market," 10/19/15
- "Popular crowd forces blow up a car bomb in the desert of Thar Thar," 10/17/15
- "Popular crowd forces dismantle car bomb in central Baiji," 10/20/15

Sarhan, Amre, "Car bomb blast wounds 3 civilians south of Baghdad," Iraqi News, 10/19/15
- "Iraqi security forces repel suicide attack by ISIS north of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 10/19/15
- "Joint forces kill 5 ISIS militants, dismantle 20 explosives west of Anbar," Iraqi News, 10/18/15

Shafaq News, "Armored vehicle of ISIS seized in al-Seniya," 10/18/15
- "A Car bomb dismantled and its driver arrested in Baghdad," 10/17/15
- "Counter-terrorism repel two suicide attacks in "Albu Jeleb" in Ramadi," 10/20/15
- "Federal Police repel 4 suicide bomb attacks near a gas station north of Baiji refinery," 10/15/15
- "Iraqi forces regain food shops in the liberation of Ramadi," 10/18/15,
- "A number of ISIS elements killed and 19 bombings foiled in Anbar," 10/21/15
- "PMU announce liberating Baiji completely," 10/20/15,
- "Two suicide attacks repelled in "Albu Faraj" killing 10 ISIS elements and destroying a tank in al-Siniya," 10/15/15

Sotaliraq, "Killing and wounding 11 members of the security forces blown up in a car bomb south of Baghdad, Yusifiyah area," 10/19/15

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