Security In Iraq, May 8-14, 2016

The Islamic State continued their spring offensive in the second week of May. While the number of security incidents went down from the previous week, casualties were up due to a number of mass casualty bombings by the militants. This has been an annual event for the insurgents since 2004 rather than a change in tactics by IS.

There were 141 incidents the second week of May in Iraq. That was down from the 160 recorded the week before. Attacks in Iraq regularly go through an ebb and flow.

Once again Baghdad was the most violence province in the country with 65 incidents. There were also 31 in Anbar, 15 in Diyala, 13 in Kirkuk, 9 in Ninewa, 6 in Salahaddin, and 1 each in Babil and Basra.

Those incidents led to 311 deaths and 674 wounded. The 985 casualties were the most reported since the 1,421 during the last week of February.

There were 193 fatalities in Baghdad, 38 in Diyala, 35 in Anbar, 20 in Salahaddin, 15 in Ninewa, and 10 in Kirkuk.

In total, 2 Sahwa, 21 Hashd, 42 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 246 civilians were killed. 6 Sahwa, 14 Peshmerga, 31 Hashd, 50 ISF, and 573 civilians were injured during the week.

Operations continued across a large stretch of central Anbar. In the Ramadi area there were sweeps through Dulab, Jabba, Wardiya, and Albu Diab. Dulab was cleared just the month before and Albu Diab had been declared freed five times before since July 2015. Reinforcements arrived in Garma, where an offensive has been going on for two years. The ISF also started a new campaign from Baghdadi to Hit and cleared several towns. The Islamic State responded with 28 counterattacks including two car bombs that hit their targets. The press reported a total of 24 ISF and 8 Hashd killed in the fighting, and another 21 ISF and 8 Hashd injured. The government has had some large victories in Anbar, but is still struggling with the rural areas.

The main focus of the Islamic State’s spring campaign was the capital. Although there have been fewer attacks then previous months in May, the number of casualties has climbed due to several deadly bombings. On May 11 three suicide car bombs hit the east, north, and west leaving 103 dead and 170 wounded in one of the most violent days in recent years in Baghdad. Another four suicide bombers took the lives of 11 people and wounded 27 in attacks on a funeral and a failed attempt to storm a police station both in the Abu Ghraib district in the outer west. Things could have been worse if four other suicide bombers hadn’t been killed.

As usual southern Baghdad was the main target of IS with 24 incidents there. Most of those are occurring in the outer southern towns rather than the city proper. After that there were 17 incidents in the north, 11 in the east, and 10 in the west. That included 3 robberies, 3 kidnappings, and 8 bodies dumped in the streets. 

Violence in Baghdad, May 8-14, 2016

Center: 2 – 1 Shooting/Robbery, 1 IED

East: 10 – 1 Suicide Car Bomb, 4 IEDs, 5 Shootings

Outer East: 1 – 1 IED

North: 9 – 1 Suicide Car Bomb, 1 Foiled Robbery, 1 Shooting/Robbery, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 IEDs, 3 Shootings

Outer North: 8 – 1 Shooting, 3 Sticky Bombs, 3 IEDs, 4 Suicide Bombers Killed

South: 9 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Mortar, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Shootings, 4 IEDs

Outer South: 15 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Shooting, 15 IEDs

West: 5 – 1 Suicide Car Bomb, 1 Shooting, 1 IED, 1 Sticky Bomb

Outer West: 5 – 1 Shooting, 3 IEDs, 4 Suicide Bombers

Unknown: 1 – 1 Foiled Kidnapping

IS continued with an increased number of operations in Diyala topped off by a car bomb and a suicide bomber. The car bomb hit a market, while the suicide bomber was on a bus. They left behind 29 bodies, and 114 wounded.

Violence went down in Kirkuk with fewer counter attacks after the Hashd and Peshmerga freed the town of Bashir in the south. There were 13 incidents during the week compared to 20 the week before. IS did fire chemical filled rockets at the Kurds in that town.

Things also calmed down in Ninewa. The first week of May there were 30 incidents, compared to just 9 the second week. The army freed the town of Kabarouk in its Makhmour campaign, which has been disappointing so far. A Sunni Hashd unit also took the town of Kanun in the Bashiqa district. The Kurds claimed they were hit by chemical filled mortar shells in the Gwar area, while IS attacked the Makhmour district three times. IS also executed 15 in Mosul.

Salahaddin had been relatively quiet for months now, but that ended during the week. On May 13 four suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a café in Balad that killed 16 and injured 30.

As part of the militants spring offensive it has been launching more car bombs. The number of successful ones has been going up. There were 6 from May 8-14, 1 in Diyala, 2 in Anbar, and 3 in Baghdad. In total they killed 138 and wounded 230 as the majority were aimed at civilian rather than military targets. The government claimed it destroyed another 39, but those figures are always exaggerated. For instance over the course of one day the Iraqi forces went from claiming to have destroyed 3 suicide car bombs to 18 in Anbar. That kind of inflation is a normal part of the government’s propaganda effort to show progress in the war.

Violence In Iraq 2015-16

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN	911	2,656	3,032 + 150
FEB	730	2,345	2,366
MAR	820	2,665	2,529
APR	751	2,753	2,621
MAY	674	2,565 + 1,499	1,952 + 646
JUN	708	2,153 + 405	2,174
JUL	688	2,716	3,198 + 4,024
AUG	684	2,440 + 760	1,777
SEP	649	1,731	1,668 + 3,003
OCT	589	1,144	1,555
NOV	530	1,174	1,455 + 124 + 1,322
DEC	553	1,155	1,252 + 5,920
Jan 1-7	150	808	421
Jan 8-14	140	436	417
Jan 15-21	135	275	227
Jan 22-28	132	392	322
Jan 29-31	41	81	334
JAN	598	2,052	1,721
Feb 1-7	146	575	313
Feb 8-14	119	146	323
Feb 15-21	130	225	239
Feb 22-29	153	371	690
FEB	549	1,281	1,566
Mar 1-7	183	321	478
Mar 8-14	168	408	415
Mar 15-21	130	349	409
Mar 22-28	135	213	420
Mar 29-31	49	172	121
MAR	665	1,463	1,843
Apr 1-7	144	239	444
Apr 8-14	141	271	391
Apr 15-21	124	436	242
Apr 22-28	160	413	524
Apr 29-30	30	61	121
APR	599	1,420	1,722
May 1-7	160	325	420
May 8-14	141	311	674

Security By Province May 8-14, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	31 Incidents 35 Killed: 3 Civilians, 8 Hashd, 24 ISF 32 Wounded: 3 Civilians, 8 Hashd, 21 ISF 6 Shootings 2 IEDs 3 Mortars 2 Suicide Car Bombs 33 Suicide Bombers Killed 21 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 7 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	1 Incident
Baghdad	65 Incidents 193 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 6 Hashd, 16 ISF, 169 Civilians 414 Wounded: 6 Sahwa, 14 Hashd, 26 ISF, 368 Civilians 16 Shootings 34 IEDs 6 Sticky Bombs 1 Mortar 4 Suicide Bombers 3 Suicide Car Bombs 4 Suicide Bombers Killed
Basra	1 Incident 3 Wounded: 3 Hashd 1 Shooting
Diyala	15 Incidents 38 Killed: 38 Civilians 124 Wounded: 124 Civilians 6 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Car Bomb 3 Mortars
Kirkuk	13 Incidents 10 Killed: 2 Hashd, 8 Civilians 54 Wounded: 6 Hashd, 48 Civilians 5 Shootings 1 IED 3 Rockets 1 Mortar
Ninewa	9 Incidents 15 Killed: 15 Civilians 17 Wounded: 3 ISF, 14 Peshmerga 5 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Mortar 3 Suicide Bombers Killed
Salahaddin	6 Incidents 20 Killed: 2 ISF, 5 Hashd, 13 Civilians 30 Wounded: 30 Civilians 3 Shootings 3 IEDs 4 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Grenade 1 Car Bomb Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq May, 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
May 1	Samawa x2, Muthanna Albu Hussein & West of Hit, Anbar – 3 destroyed	38	86
May 2	Sadiya, Baghdad Hit, Dabiya & Satamiya, Anbar – 4 destroyed Alas & Ajeel, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	19	44
May 3	Bashiqa x2 & Tel Skuf, Ninewa South of Fallujah, Anbar – 1 destroyed Tel Skuf, Ninewa – 2 destroyed	1	2
May 4	Amiriya Fallujah, Anbar – 8 destroyed Tel al-Gol, Ninewa – 1 destroyed Mashak, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
May 5	Thar Thar, Anbar – 1 destroyed Bashir, Kirkuk 1 destroyed Kharaib, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
May 6	Radwaniya, Baghdad	3	5
May 7	Thar Thar, Anbar – 7 destroyed
Totals	7 – 33 Destroyed	61	137
May 8	Salam, Anbar – 3 destroyed
May 9	Baquba, Diyala Albu Shihab, Anbar – 1 destroyed	16	54
May 10	Thar Thar, Anbar – 1 destroyed
May 11	Jamiya, Kadhimiya, Sadr City, Baghdad Jeraishi, Anbar – 2 destroyed	103	170
May 12	Jeraishi, Anbar Albu Aetha, Albu Diab, Albu Faraj, Albu Veab, Anbar – 19 destroyed Baiji, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	17
May 13	Albu Aetha, Dwylih, Garma, Anbar – 10 destroyed
May 14	Albu Hayat, Anbar Albu Aetha & Barwana, Anbar – 2 destroyed	2	6
Totals	6 – 39 Destroyed	138	230

SOURCES

Adel, Loaa, "Anbar Operations destroys 3 booby-trapped vehicles south of Fallujah," Iraqi News, 5/8/16

- "Baghdad Operations announces foiling attack on police station in western Baghdad," Iraqi News, 5/12/16

- "Jazeera Operations announces advancing in Baghdadi, 4 terrorists killed," Iraqi News, 5/12/16

- "Jazeera Operations announces liberating al-Marwaniya and al-Wadahiya villages in northern Baghdadi," Iraqi News, 5/11/16

- "Mahalawi: 20 ISIS militants killed, booby-trapped vehicle destroyed south of Fallujah," Iraqi News, 5/9/16

Agence France Presse, "Gun, grenade and bomb attack kills 16 north of Baghdad," 5/13/16

AIN, "157 Daash killed and the bombing of 10 car bombs repelling attack north of Ramadi," 5/13/16

Bas News, "IS Attacks Basheer Village with Chemical Weapons," 5/8/16

BBC, "IS conflict: Dozens killed in Baghdad car bombings," 5/11/16

- "IS militants attack Iraq café used by Real Madrid fans," 5/13/16

Buratha News, "Destroyed a car bomb and dismantled explosive devices in five houses in Anbar," 5/10/16

DNA, "Café attack in Iraqi town kills 13; ISIS claims responsibility," 5/13/16

Al Forat, "Anbar operations: the killing of 177 Daash including 17 bombers north of Ramadi," 5/12/16

- "Bulldozer bomb destroyed north of Ramadi," 5/12/16

- "The destroying of a car bomb north of Ramadi," 5/14/16

Karadsheh, Jomana and Yan, Holly, "Attack at funeral kills 6 people in Iraq; ISIS claims responsibility," CNN, 5/8/16

Al Maalomah, "Five Daash killed and the destruction of three-car bombs by aerial bombardment north of Ramadi," 5/13/16

- "Popular crowd destroys car bomb northern Salahuddin," 5/12/16

- "Security forces thwart suicide attacks by two car bombs on a checkpoint western Anbar," 5/11/16

Al Mada, "The arrival of armored reinforcements to Garma," 5/8/16

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "Security forces kill 4 ISIS members west of Ramadi, weapons caches destroyed," Iraqi News, 5/10/16

- "Security forces liberate 2 areas in Heet District, dozens of ISIS members killed," Iraqi News, 5/11/16

- "Security forces start military operation to liberate Heet and Baghdadi axes," Iraqi News, 5/11/16

New Sabah, "Security file," 5/13/16

NINA, "Joint Operations: 33 Terrorists Killed In The Process Of Freeing Juba Area," 5/13/16

Reuters, "ISIS Car Bomb Kills At Least 16 in Iraq," 5/9/16

- "Islamic State kills 17 Iraqi soldiers with suicide truck bombs near Ramadi," 5/12/16

Rudaw, "Iraqi Army liberates Makhmour village as coalition planes target fleeing ISIS militants," 5/9/16

- "Sunni militia offensive against ISIS near Mosul; Peshmerga not involved," 5/14/16

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Iraq officials: Suicide bomb kills at least 13," Associated Press, 5/10/16

Salaheddin, Sinan and George, Susannah, "Additional Bombings Bring Death Toll to 93 Across Baghdad," Associated Press, 5/11/16

Sarhan, Amre, "Iraqi join forces liberate al-Wardiya west of Ramadi, says al-Jazeerah Operations," Iraqi News, 5/14/16

- "Security forces free bridge in al-Baghdadi area west of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 5/12/16

- "Security forces kill 4 "terrorists" in Albu Ziyab area west of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 5/15/16

Sotaliraq, "Joint forces repel six Daash suicide car bomb attack in Garma," 5/13/16

- "Statistics: Killing 103 people and injuring 155 in Baghdad bombings on Wednesday," 5/11/16

Xinhua, "5 policemen killed in 3 suicide bomb attacks in Iraq's Anbar," 5/14/16