Monday, September 5, 2016

Violence In Iraq, August 2016


Violence had been on a decline throughout 2016, even with the Islamic State’s spring offensive, but that was reversed in August. Attacks finally climbed upward driven by a renewed wave of bombings in Baghdad, counter attacks in Ninewa and Kirkuk, and a new wave of executions by the militants to maintain their control over the last remaining areas of their caliphate in Iraq.

There were 574 incidents in August 2016. That was up from 530 the month before. At the same time it was the second lowest amount recorded so far in 2016, but did reverse the decline in attacks seen throughout the year. Increases in violence were seen in Anbar, Baghdad and Ninewa.


There were a reported 1,263 dead and 1,376 wounded during the month. 11 Sahwa, 21 Hashd, 43 Peshmerga, 134 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 1,054 civilians were killed, and 8 Asayesh, 12 Sahwa, 46 Peshmerga, 51 Hashd, 159 ISF, and 1,100 civilians were injured. The deadliest provinces were Baghdad, 387, Ninewa 330, and Kirkuk 318. At the other end of the spectrum, political violence occurred in Basra, Dohuk, and Irbil that led to a total of two killed, and two wounded.

In August, there was heavy fighting in Khalidiya Island between Ramadi and Fallujah in Anbar, while the Islamic State was also attacking in the west around the Syrian border area and Haditha. That led to an almost doubling of security incidents from an average of 1.2 per day in July to 1.9 in August. A total of 138 people ended up dying and 74 more were wounded. Of the deceased, 55 were blamed on a Coalition air strike, and the Islamic State executed another 30.


There were just 12 incidents in Babil. Those were a mixture of kidnappings and IEDs. For months now there has been very little insurgent activity in the governorate.

Violence had been going down in the capital province for the last five months, but spiked in August. The number of average attacks per day went from 8.9 in both June and July to 10.1 in August. That killed 387 people and wounded 1,023. Three car bombs and four suicide bombers hit Baghdad costing the lives of 18 people and injuring 55. That was only a small fraction of the total casualties. The 31 sticky bomb and 159 IEDs took a far heavier toll, regularly hitting commercial districts to take the highest human tolls. As IS has been thrown on the defensive, it has turned to striking the capital more and more to undermine the government and to keep it in the headlines.

In previous months IS had doubled its activities in Diyala, but in August there was a downturn. From May to July there were around 2 incidents per day, but in August there was only an average of 1 per day. That casualties in half as well with 23 killed and 17 wounded in August compared to 53 dead and 52 injured in July. Almost all of the incidents were in Baquba and to the areas to the east and north.

There were two rare terrorist attacks in southern Iraq. A group of suicide bombers were able to infiltrate into Karbala leaving 18 dead and 28 wounded. A car bomb was also intercepted at a checkpoint in Muthanna killing 2 police and injuring another 5.

There was an explosion of deaths in Kirkuk. Advancing government forces has led to an exodus from the Hawija district in the southern section of the governorate. In turn, IS has killed more and more civilians in an attempt to stop the outflow. Of the 318 fatalities in August, 271 were people who were either executed or killed trying to flee the grips of the militants.

Ninewa saw a jump in violence due to three factors. First, the government continued its push into Qayara leading to counter attacks by IS. Second, there were continued attacks upon the Peshmerga lines. Third, the militants upped their executions to maintain their control over their territory. 162 people were killed by the Islamic State, and another 40 were found in an IS prison and mass graves. Another 54 ISF and 38 Peshmerga died and 15 ISF and 37 Peshmerga were wounded in fighting. That led to a total of 330 deaths and 115 injured for the month.

Security incidents continued on their downward trend in Salahaddin. There were just 25 in August with 40 dead and 48 wounded. That was the fewest recorded attacks of the year. 34 of the casualties were displaced people attempting to escape the Islamic State.

In Sulaymaniya suicide bombers were intercepted in two separate occasions wounding 8 members of the Kurdish security forces.

In August there were 10 successful car bombs. None of them caused many casualties as they were either aimed at the security forces or detonated at checkpoints before they could reach civilian areas. The government claimed it destroyed another 97. Those figures are routinely exaggerated as part of the authorities’ propaganda efforts. Broken down by province there were 2 successful car bombs in Anbar, with 12 destroyed. 3 in Baghdad, and 2 truck bombs dismantled. 1 suicide car bomb in Diyala, and 1 dismantled. 1 in Muthanna. 3 suicide car bombs in Ninewa and 70 destroyed, and 12 wiped out in Salahaddin.

Violence In Iraq 2016
Date
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
Jan 1-7
179
866
476
Jan 8-14
168
560
480
Jan 15-21
166
400
335
Jan 22-28
154
457
361
Jan 29-31
56
135
334
JAN
723
2,418
1,986
Feb 1-7
184
626
355
Feb 8-14
150
259
375
Feb 15-21
162
400
293
Feb 22-29
161
400
701
FEB
657
1,685
1,724
Mar 1-7
185
351
484
Mar 8-14
169
477
517
Mar 15-21
133
419
510
Mar 22-28
141
245
432
Mar 29-31
53
192
152
MAR
681
1,684
2,095
Apr 1-7
157
398
508
Apr 8-14
146
361
443
Apr 15-21
130
531
300
Apr 22-28
165
480
532
Apr 29-30
31
65
121
APR
629
1,835
1,904
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
85
142
313
MAY
673
1,637
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
121
176
245
Aug 15-21
155
388
392
Aug 22-28
134
269
312
Aug 29-31
55
88
172
AUG
574
1,263
1,376

Security By Province August, 2016
Province
Incidents
Anbar
59 Incidents
138 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 32 ISF, 101 Civilians
74 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 14 Hashd, 14 Civilians, 44 ISF
21 Shootings
10 IEDs
1 Sound Bomb
2 Suicide Car Bombs
5 Mortars
1 Poison Gas Attack
40 Suicide Bombers Killed
3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
9 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil
12 Incidents
4 Killed: 4 Civilians
7 Wounded: 1 ISF, 6 Civilians
2 Shootings
7 IEDs
Baghdad
315 Incidents
387 Killed: 8 Sahwa, 15 Hashd, 41 ISF, 323 Civilians
1,023 Wounded: 10 Sahwa, 32 Hashd, 87 ISF, 894 Civilians
79 Shootings
159 IEDs
31 Sticky Bombs
4 Suicide Bombers
3 Car Bombs
3 Mortars
7 Grenades
7 Suicide Bombes Killed
2 Truck Bombs Dismantled
Basra
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 ISF
2 Wounded: 1 ISF, 1 Civilian
1 Shooting
Diyala
34 Incidents
23 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 3 ISF, 16 Civilians
17 Wounded: 5 Hashd, 5 Civilians, 7 ISF
19 Shootings
10 IEDs
1 Suicide Car Bomb
1 Mortar
1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Dohuk
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
1 Shooting
Irbil
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
1 Shooting
Kirkuk
45 Incidents
318 Killed: 3 Peshmerga, 315 Civilians
55 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Peshmerga, 50 Civilians
21 Shootings
10 IEDs
1 Sticky Bomb
1 Suicide Bomber
1 Rockets
2 Mortars
1 Suicide Bomber Captured
Karbala
1 Incident
18 Killed: 18 Civilians
28 Wounded: 28 Civilians
1 Shooting
2 Suicide Bombers
1 Grenade
Ninewa
Muthanna
1 Incident
2 Killed: 2 ISF
5 Wounded: 5 Civilians
1 Car Bomb
Ninewa
77 Incidents
330 Killed: 38 Peshmerga, 54 ISF, 238 Civilians
109 Wounded: 15 ISF, 37 Peshmerga, 57 Civilians
34 Shootings
51 IEDs
4 Suicide Bombers
3 Suicide Car Bombs
5 Mortars
4 Rockets
13 Suicide Bombers Killed
19 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
51 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin
25 Incidents
40 Killed: 1 ISF, 2 Peshmerga, 37 Civilians
48 Wounded: 2 ISF, 6 Peshmerga, 40 Civilians
11 Shootings
6 IEDs
2 Mortars
3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
9 Car Bombs Destroyed
Sulaymaniya
2 Incidents
8 Wounded: 8 Asayesh
2 Suicide Bombers

Car Bombs In Iraq Aug 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
Aug 15



Aug 16
Ramadi Dist, Anbar
Hit, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Qaraqoush, Ninewa – 1 destroyed

4
Aug 17
Bab al-Sham, Baghdad
Baquba, Diyala – 1 destroyed
2
5
Aug 18



Aug 19



Aug 20



Aug 21



Totals
2 – 4 Destroyed
2
9
Aug 22
Jadaa & Qayara, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Makhoul, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed


Aug 23
Qayara, Ninewa – 23 destroyed


Aug 24



Aug 25
Khalidiya Island, Anbar
Arab Jabour, Baghdad
Albu Bali & Haditha, Anbar – 3 destroyed
5
10
Aug 26
Shirqat, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed


Aug 27



Aug 28
Qayara, Ninewa – 10 destroyed
Baiji & Zerga, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed


Totals
2 – 48 Destroyed
5
10
Aug 29
Qayara, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
East of Tikrit, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed


Aug 30



Aug 31
Haditha, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Arab Jabour, Bahgdad – 1 destroyed


AUGUST
10 – 97 Destroyed
25
37

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