Security In Iraq, Dec. 1-7, 2015

The first week of December 2015 had the lowest reported number of casualties in Iraq of the year. That was the result of added security for the Arbaeen ceremony. Overall, attacks have been decreasing since early 2015 so the dead and wounded have been going down for most of the year.

From December 1-7, 2015 there were 118 security incidents in the press. That was an average of 16.8 attacks per day, which was slightly below November’s 17.6. Baghad had the most incidents with 46. There were also 19 in Ninewa, 18 in Anbar, 16 in Salahaddin, 7 in Babil, 6 in Kirkuk, 2 each in Basra and Diyala, and one each in Karbala and Maysan.

Those led to 158 dead and 249 wounded the lowest numbers for the entire year. There were 2 Sahwa, 3 Hashd, 12 Peshmerga, 16 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 125 civilians kill along with 2 Peshmerga, 3 Sahwa, 5 Hashd, 31 ISF, and 204 civilians injured. By province there were 64 fatalities in Ninewa, 44 in Baghdad, 18 in Salahaddin, 13 in Anbar, 9 in Kirkuk, 8 in Babil, and 1 each in Diyala and Maysan. Casualties are no longer a reliable measure for violence in Iraq because the authorities are censoring so much. That being said attacks have been going down consistently since the start of the year so the number of dead and wounded is declining as well. There was also a heavy deployment of security forces at the start of December for the end of the Arbaeen ceremony, which also accounts for the extremely low figures for the week.

The Ramadi operation entered its fifth month. There was continued progress into the downtown area with the usual government obfuscation. During the week the glass factory in Ramadi was taken, while the Tamim neighborhood in the southwestern section of the city was attacked. As has been the practice the district was declared secured on December 4, then two days later it was said to be 80% freed, and then cleared again on December 8. Despite government claims to the contrary, Humeria to the south, Husaiba and East Husaiba to the east, and Albu Faraj to the north all remained contested. Despite all that the authorities only admitted to 3 ISF killed and 4 wounded during the week, along with 10 civilian fatalities and 12 wounded by air strikes.

Baghdad continued to be the main target of IS terrorist attacks. Most of the violence was in the south with 17 incidents. There were another 5 in the center, 7 in the west, 8 in the east and 9 in the north. IS is active in the towns in the south of the province such as Arab Jabour, and use those areas to attack the city itself. Some of the incidents in that region of the governorate during the week included four suicide bombers who were killed, 4 shootings, and 14 IEDs.

Security Incidents In Baghdad Dec 1-7

Center: 5 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 4 IEDs

East: 7 – 1 Stabbing, 1 Robbery/Shooting, 1 Sticky Bomb, 4 IEDs

Outer East: 1 – 1 Sticky Bomb

North: 6: 1 Robbery, 1 Stabbing, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 IED, 2 Shootings

Outer North: 3 – 1 Shooting, 2 IEDs

South: 12 – 3 Shootings, 4 Suicide Bombers Killed, 7 IEDs

Outer South: 5 – 1 Shooting, 7 IEDs

West: 4 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Mortar, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 IED

Outer West: 3 – 1 Bicycle Bomb, 2 IEDs

The rise in violence in Diyala in October and November led the joint forces to launch a series of security sweeps in that province in December. This included Sadiya, the Diyala River, the Hamrin Mountains and the Edheim basin. With attacks seeing a precipitous decline last month, this might just be aimed at ensuring that they don’t go back up.

During the religious ceremonies IS made several attempts upon the pilgrims. That included five suicide bombers who were killed outside Karbala on December 2.

Almost all of the violence in Ninewa was due to IS executions. During the week the group killed 43 people in Mosul and Baaj. That included the brother of a member of parliament, one sheikh, three doctors, and twelve soldiers and policemen. IS also made a probing attack upon the Kurds in Khazir and 7 Peshmerga were killed and one wounded in a booby trapped house in the Sinjar district.

IS carried out attacks up and down Salahaddin. In the south Tarmiya and Taji get hit every few days with IEDs and shootings. IS fired mortars into Samarra and four car bombs were destroyed in Samarra Island. Parts of Baiji continue to be contested, and there is constant fighting in the Makhoul Mountains to the north of that area.

Finally, the Islamic State’s car bomb campaign may finally be coming to an end. There were 36 car bombs launched at the start of December with none hitting their target. That was below the 50+ that have been seen over previous weeks. All the vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) were also in Anbar and Salahaddin only when before IS had been hitting a variety of provinces. Still, it’s too early to tell whether this was just a temporary dip or the finale.

 

Violence In Iraq By Week 2015

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	205	466	464
Jan 8-14	176	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	774	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	663	2,280	2,335
May 1-7	159	627	450
May 8-14	161	420	549
May 15-21	128	963	387
May 22-28	115	341 + 1,499	348
May 29-31	38	66	164 + 646
MAY	601	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 + 58	189 + 106
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 + 400
JUL	608	2,158	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	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	144	254	389
Oct 15-21	142	208	279
Oct 22-28	129	216	366
Oct 29-31	49	110	116 + 1
OCT	569	1,079	1,549
Nov 1-7	125	186	316
Nov 8-14	121	265	354
Nov 15-21	140	358	420
Nov 22-28	107	289	261 + 124 + 1,322
Nov 29-30	37	52 + 24	103 + 1
NOV	530	1,174	1,455 + 124 + 1,322
Dec 1-7	118	158	249

Security By Province Dec 2015

Province	Nov
Anbar	18 Incidents 13 Killed: 3 ISF, 10 Civilians 16 Wounded: 4 ISF, 12 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 Suicide Bomber 20 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 12 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	7 Incidents 8 Killed: 8 Civilians 18 Wounded: 5 ISF, 13 Civilians 2 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb
Baghdad	46 Incidents 44 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 42 Civilians 153 Wounded: 21 ISF, 132 Civilians 8 Shootings 28 IEDs 5 Sticky Bombs 1 Bicycle Bomb 1 Mortar 4 Suicide Bombers Killed
Basra	2 Incidents 2 Wounded: 2 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 IED
Diyala	2 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Hashd 6 Wounded: 3 ISF, 3 Hashd 1 Shooting 2 IEDs
Karbala	1 Incident 1 Shooting 5 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kirkuk	6 Incidents 9 Killed: 1 Hashd, 8 Civilians 3 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 2 Hashd 2 Shootings 1 Mortar
Maysan	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Ninewa	19 Incidents 64 Killed: 12 ISF, 12 Peshmerga, 40 Civilians 19 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 17 Civilians 5 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Rockets
Salahaddin	16 Incidents 18 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 16 Civilians 32 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Sahwa, 27 Civilians 6 Shootings 5 IEDs 1 Mortar 4 Car Bombs Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq, December 2015

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Dec 1
Dec 2	Baghdadi & Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Dec 3	Albu Aetha & Hamidiya, Anbar – 5 destroyed
Dec 4	110 Kilo, Albu Faraj & Jeraishi, Anbar – 6 destroyed
Dec 5	35 Kilo, Albu Faraj, Baghdadi, Ramadi, Anbar – 19 destroyed
Dec 6
Dec 7	Samarra Island, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed
Totals	0 – 36 Destroyed

SOURCES

AIN, "Coalition aircraft destroyed two Daash car bombs in Anbar," 12/5/15

- "Fight against terrorism: the killing of 100 Daash in violat battles south Ramadi," 12/4/15,

- "Five Daash killed and two car bombs thwarted northern Ramadi," 12/3/15

Alsumaria, "Desert and Island Command announce the killing of 10 Daash members and detonate 27 bombs in al-Baghdadi," 12/2/15

- "Destruction of seven suicide car bombs west of Ramadi," 12/5/15

eKurd, "Iraqi Kurdistan News in brief - December 3, 2015," 12/3/15

Al Forat, "Daash executed brother of MP for the Union Forces Obeidi in Mosul," 12/5/15

- "The destruction of two suicide car bombs in Anbar's Albu Faraj area," 12/4/15

Al Mada, "Anbar complaining about the lack of engineering effort in Ramadi and confirm 80% of Tamim neighborhood freed," 12/6/15

- "Destruction of 4 car bombs in Anbar," 12/4/15

- "Diyala police destroyed a Daash camp during security operation northeast of Baquba," 12/7/15

- "Killing and wounding 14 people in the fall of Katyusha rockets on various parts of Samarra," 12/3/15

- "Security forces stormed Tamim neighborhood south Ramadi, killing dozens of Daash militants," 12/1/15

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "Anti-Terrorism forces free Ramadi glass plant and raise Iraqi flag over it," Iraqi News, 12/1/15

- "Hezbollah Brigades kill 5 suicide bombers near Karbala," Iraqi News, 12/2/15

- "Khalidiya Council announces liberating al-Ta'mim area west of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 12/8/15

- "Security forces foil ISIS attack in Ramadi, says Anbar Operations," Iraqi News, 12/3/15

Al Masalah, "30 terrorists killed in Anbar," 12/4/15

NINA, "/16/ elements of Daash killed in airstrikes western Anbar," 12/5/15

- "Daash executed a mosque preacher in Mosul," 12/7/15 - "Daash executed three doctors, west of Mosul," 12/7/15 - "Dozens of terrorsits of /Daash/ killed in Anbar Sector during the advance operations to liberate cities of the province," 12/5/15 - "The Iraqi Sukhoi fighter jets destroyed /4/ car bombs and two plants for booby-trapping vehicles west of Samarra," 12/7/15 - "Many moving headquarters of Daash seized northeast of Baquba," 12/4/15 - "Peshmerga foil an attack by Daash and kill four terrorists in eastern Mosul," 12/2/15 - "A secret camp to Daash seized in al-Edhaim Basin north of Baquba," 12/7/15 - "A Secret Den Of Daash Destroyed Northeast Of Baquba," 12/5/15 Al Rayy, "The destruction of 8 car bombs in airstrikes in Anbar," 12/5/15

 - "Suicide Bomber killed in aerial bombardment north Ramadi," 12/2/15

Rudaw, "ISIS executes police, security in Mosul," 12/5/15

Sarhan, Amre, "10 ISIS militants killed during clashes north of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 12/5/15