Security In Iraq, Aug 8-14, 2016

For the eighth straight week violence in Iraq remained at a relatively low level. The government launched two new offensives. One was a mopping up operation in Anbar, while both the army and Peshmerga made pushes in Ninewa.

There were 120 security incidents reported in the press from August 8-14, 2016. That was up from 109 the first week of August, but still inline with the 115, 123, 129, 120, and 123 incidents from the week of June 22 to the week ending on June 28.

There were 53 incidents in Baghdad, 22 in Ninewa, 14 in Anbar, 9 in Diyala, 9 in Kirkuk, 5 in Salahaddin, 4 in Babil, 1 in Dohuk, 1 in Irbil, 1 in Muthanna, and 1 in Sulaymaniya.

During the week there were 169 fatalities and 225 wounded. 1 Sahwa, 3 Hashd, 10 Peshmerga, 31 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 124 civilians lost their lives. Another 4 Asayesh, 7 Hashd, 15 Peshmerga, 41 ISF, and 158 civilians were injured.

Baghdad was the deadliest province as usual with 76 killed. 45 also died in Ninewa, 25 in Kirkuk, 9 in Diyala, 8 in Anbar, 2 in Muthanna, 2 in Salahaddin, 1 in Dohuk, and 1 in Irbil.

The government launched the second phase of its Khalidiya Island operation in Anbar. The area lies in between Fallujah and Ramadi and was a major Islamic State base. Despite the area being declared cleared, there are still lots of insurgent cells left in the area. IS responded with a few counterattacks there, but also many in and around Ramadi showing that the militants are moving back into that district. Finally, mortars struck Hit twice. In total there were 14 incidents with 8 deaths and 7 wounded during the week in the province.

Babil remained relatively quiet. There were just four incidents and no casualties. Several houses were bombed though.

Violence has been slowly going down in the capital province. There were 53 incidents with 76 dead and 186 wounded in Baghdad from August 8-14. Before there were regularly 60-70 incidents per week in the governorate, but now that has gone down to 60-50. The Islamic State was still attempting mass casualty bombings. A car bomb and a suicide bomber exploded during the week, but both hit checkpoints in the outer southern towns limiting casualties to 10 dead and 19 wounded in total. The south as usual was hit the most with 19 incidents, with 13 more in the north, 12 in the east, 5 in the west, 3 in the center, and one in an unknown location.

Violence in Baghdad Aug 8-14, 2016

Center: 3 – 1 Shooting, 2 IEDs

East: 10 – 2 Kidnapping, 2 Sticky Bombs, 3 Shootings, 3 IEDs

Outer East: 2 – 2 IEDs

North: 6 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Shooting, 2 Sticky Bombs, 2 IEDs

Outer North: 7 – 1 Shooting, 6 IEDs

South: 9 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 7 IEDs

Outer South: 10 – 1 Car Bomb, 1 Suicide Bomber, 1 Shooting, 7 IEDs

West: 4 – 4 IEDs

Outer West: 1 – 1 Shooting

Unknown: 1 – 1 Kidnapping

IS carried out its usual mix of low level attacks in Diyala. There were 9 incidents, 9 killed, and 4 wounded. 7 of those attacks were shootings, with 1 IED and an attack on the police with small arms and mortar fire.

Kirkuk only reported 9 incidents during the week. IS hit the Bai Hassan oil field again bombing the facility, which has hurt Kurdistan’s oil sales. The group also executed 23 people in Hawija, which it is struggling to control as the security forces draw closer.

Kurdistan witnessed some rare incidents. First, there was an apparent political assassination in Irbil when the nephew of the Ninewa governor was found shot dead. In Dohuk a journalist was killed, which sparked an investigation into the causes. Finally, in Sulaymaniya, 2 suicide bombers were intercepted with one being killed, but the other blowing himself up, which injured 4 Asayesh.

Southern Iraq had a rare attack. In Muthanna province a car bomb was intercepted and blew up killing two ISF and wounding five civilians. The last time the governorate was hit was in May when two car bombs detonated.

In the 2^nd week of August both the army and Peshmerga re-started offensive operations in Ninewa. First, the army freed four villages in the Qayara district. Then the Peshmerga moved into the Khazir and Gwar districts liberating 12 more towns. Both forces were trying to make way for the up coming Mosul operation that is likely to start at the end of the year or beginning of the next. As usual, the insurgents responded with a series of counterattacks that left 12 ISF and 7 Peshmerga dead, and 12 more Peshmerga wounded. The militants executed another 25 people in Mosul, Badush, and Qayara.

There were just 5 incidents in Salahaddin spread across Baiji, Samarra, Shirqat, and Tuz Kharmato districts. Four of those were infantry assaults, and the 5^th was an IED on the police. The governorate has only seen sporadic violence over the last few months.

There were five car bombs from August 8-14, which were the most since 9 detonated in the third week of June. Besides the ones in Baghdad and Muthanna, three more hit the Qayara base in Ninewa. In total 17 people lost their lives, and another 13 were injured. The government forces claimed they destroyed a further 10 in Anbar and Ninewa.

Violence In Iraq 2016

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	171	856	421
Jan 8-14	161	547	418
Jan 15-21	160	395	273
Jan 22-28	149	448	331
Jan 29-31	55	133	334
JAN	696	2,379	1,777
Feb 1-7	176	611	325
Feb 8-14	145	253	324
Feb 15-21	157	395	269
Feb 22-29	161	400	701
FEB	639	1,659	1,619
Mar 1-7	185	351	484
Mar 8-14	169	477	515
Mar 15-21	132	418	502
Mar 22-28	141	245	432
Mar 29-31	53	192	152
MAR	680	1,683	2,085
Apr 1-7	157	398	510
Apr 8-14	145	361	443
Apr 15-21	130	531	300
Apr 22-28	166	480	532
Apr 29-30	31	65	121
APR	629	1,835	1,906
May 1-7	164	386	422
May 8-14	147	407	687
May 15-21	127	387	617
May 22-28	150	315	445
May 29-31	84	122	313
MAY	672	1,612	2,484
Jun 1-7	177	592	1,639
Jun 8-14	136	345	472
Jun 15-21	154	416	523
Jun 22-28	123	329	410
Jun 29-30	40	429	3,405
JUN	630	2,111	6,449
Jul 1-7	120	589	635
Jul 8-14	129	242	316
Jul 15-21	123	168	272
Jul 22-28	115	234	366
Jul 29-31	43	95	119
JUL	530	1,328	1,708
Aug 1-7	109	342	255
Aug 8-14	120	169	225

Security By Province Aug 8-14 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	14 Incidents 8 Killed: 2 ISF, 6 Civilians 7 Wounded: 3 ISF, 4 Civilians 5 Shootings 2 Mortars 24 Suicide Bombers killed 2 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Babil	4 Incidents 3 IEDs
Baghdad	53 Incidents 76 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 3 Hashd, 12 ISF, 60 Civilians 186 Wounded: 7 Hashd, 32 ISF, 147 Civilians 9 Shootings 33 IEDs 5 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Car Bomb
Diyala	9 Incidents 9 Killed: 3 ISF, 6 Civilians 4 Wounded: 4 ISF 8 Shootings 1 IED 1 Mortar
Dohuk	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Irbil	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Kirkuk	9 Incidents 25 Killed: 1 Peshmerga, 24 Civilians 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 5 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Mortar
Muthanna	1 Incident 2 Killed: 2 ISF 5 Wounded: 5 Civilians 1 Car Bomb
Ninewa	22 Incidents 45 Killed: 7 Peshmerga, 12 ISF, 26 Civilians 13 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 12 Peshmerga 8 Shootings 9 IEDs 3 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Mortars 1 Rockets 1 Suicide Bomber killed 3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 4 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	5 Incidents 2 Killed: 2 Peshmerga 5 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Peshmerga 4 Shootings 1 IED
Sulaymaniya	1 Incident 4 Wounded: 4 Asayesh 1 Suicide Bomber

Car Bombs In Iraq Aug 1-7 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Aug 1	Shirqat, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed
Aug 2	Hadhar & Qayara, Ninewa – 15 destroyed
Aug 3	Tarmiya, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Aug 4	North of Baquba, Diyala	1	5
Aug 5
Aug 6
Aug 7
Totals	1 – 19 Destroyed	1	5
Au 8
Aug 9
Aug 10	Arab Jabour, Baghdad Qayara Base x3, Ninewa	15	8
Aug 11	Samawa, Muthanna Haj Ali & Hadhar, Ninewa – 6 destroyed	2	5
Aug 12	Albu Assaf & Khalidiya Island, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Aug 13
Aug 14	Azwaip, Anbar – 1 destroyed Khazir, Ninewa – 1 destroyed
Totals	5 – 10 Destroyed	17	13

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, "Iraq governor's nephew gunned down in north: officials," 8/13/16

AIN, "A car bomb targeting the Peshmerga between Al Khazir and Qayara," 8/14/16

Face Iraq, "The martyrdom and wounding of 17 people after a wave of violence which affected the capital Baghdad and the province of Muthanna," 8/11/16

Iraqi News, "ISIS attacks Iraqi army south of Mosul," 8/10/16

- "Joint security forces liberate villages south of Nineveh," 8/14/16

- "Nineveh council announces liberating seven villages east of Mosul," 8/14/16

- "Nineveh Operations liberate four villages south of Mosul," 8/13/16

- "Peshmerga ends its offensive in Mosul," 8/15/16

Al Maalomah, "Federal police destroyed a car bomb west of Ramadi," 8/12/16

- "Four suicide bombers killed and the destruction of a car bomb northeast of Ramadi," 8/12/16

- "The start of the second stage of cleansing Khalidiya island east of Ramadi," 8/8/16

Al Mada, "Army begins operation to liberate the villages south of Mosul," 8/12/16

- "Killing and wounding 11 soldiers in suicide bombing targeting checkpoint south Baghdad," 8/10/16

NINA, "Five attacks by Daash on villages of Haj Ali repelled south of Mosul," 8/11/16

- "Nineveh police blew up two car bombs Daash and relocating its headquarters from Spyker to the south of Mosul," 8/11/16