Security In Iraq, Sep 22-28, 2016

Violence continued its upward trend in September. Each week of the month there have been more incidents. The main focus was in Baghdad where the highest figures ever recorded by Musings On Iraq occurred during the fourth week of the month. On the government side, they were continuing to clear out the Ramadi area, while Shirqat, the last district in Salahaddin under Islamic State control was finally attacked.

Every week this month violence has increased. The first month there were 119 incidents, 125 the second week, 136 the third, and 159 the fourth.

From September 22-28, 2016 there were 326 people killed and 469 wounded. 1 Peshmerga, 3 Sahwa, 12 Hashd, 27 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 283 civilians died, and 7 Sahwa, 25 Hashd, 45 ISF, and 392 civilians were injured. Ninewa had the most deaths with 138, closely followed by 129 in Baghdad.

In Anbar, the Iraqi forces were continuing with their clearing operations around Ramadi. Several towns in Baghdadi and Hit Islands were freed, along with Albu Assaf and the Albu Diab district to the north of Ramadi. Some of those areas have changed hands several times before. The Islamic State responded with 9 counter attacks. An air strike was also blamed for killing two border guards in Rutba. In total 4 deaths were reported and 17 wounded. 

Violence went into overdrive in Baghdad. There were 97 incidents, the most ever recorded by Musings On Iraq since 2014. On September 27 there were 23 incidents alone, again a record for Musings On Iraq. Not all the incidents in the capital province were due to the Islamic State. There are also criminals, vigilantes, and militias operating there. They mostly account for shootings, robberies, kidnappings, and bodies being dumped. IS carried out the vast majority of attacks. During the week that included three suicide bombings that killed a total of 27 people and wounded another 90. The South, 28 incidents, and the north, 25, had the most activity, followed by 21 incidents in the east, 14 in the west, 6 in the center, and one at an unknown location.

IS operations in Diyala have been going up and down lately, but it is still attempting mass casualty bombings there a few times a month. The fourth week of September was one such period when a suicide car bomb went off at a checkpoint in Khalis leaving 10 fatalities and 25 injured. (1) Another car bomb was destroyed on the highway between Diyala and Salahaddin.

The Islamic State was busy attacking the Peshmerga, government forces, and executing people in Ninewa. It struck out at the Iraqi forces in Qayara in the south, and at the Kurds in the north during the week with ten attacks. It also executed 106 people. That was the reason why the province was the deadliest in the country during the week.

After being relatively dormant in Salahaddin for the past few months, there was a burst of insurgent activity from September 22-28. There were a total of 17 incidents including attempts on the provincial police chief and the head of the security committee in the Tikrit district with two suicide car bombs, and a suicide bomber. The Iraqi forces also finally attacked the Shirqat district in the northern section of the province. This was the last area still under IS control. The government also took Zawiya, which has been hotly contested, only to withdraw immediately afterward. Those two operations were in part responsible for the spike in violence during the week.

Finally, there were four car bombs. There was one in Diyala, and three in Salahaddin. Those left 23 dead and 59 wounded. Another 28 were destroyed in Anbar, Bahgdad, Diyala, Ninewa, and Salahaddin.

Violence In Iraq 2016

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN	723	2,418	1,986
FEB	657	1,685	1,724
MAR	681	1,684	2,095
APR	629	1,835	1,904
MAY	673	1,637	2,484
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
Sep 1-7	119	341	381
Sep 8-14	125	197	313
Sep 15-21	136	165	305
Sep 22-28	159	326	469

Security By Province Sep 22-28, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	10 Incidents 4 Killed: 2 ISF, 2 Civilians 17 Wounded: 6 ISF, 11 Civilians 7 Shootings 1 Rockets 7 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	2 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 1 Grenade
Baghdad	97 Incidents 129 killed: 3 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 8 ISF, 114 Civilians 357 Wounded: 4 Hashd, 7 Shawa, 23 ISF, 323 Civilians 28 Shootings 41 IEDs 7 Sticky Bombs 1 Sound Bomb 3 Suicide Bombers 2 Mortars 5 Grenades 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Basra	1 Incident 1 IED
Diyala	12 Incidents 20 Killed: 1 ISF, 19 Civilians 29 Wounded: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 27 Civilians 5 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed
Kirkuk	2 Incidents 2 Killed: 1 Hashd, 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Ninewa	18 Incidents 138 Killed: 1 Peshmerga, 5 ISF, 132 Civilians 5 Wounded: 2 Civilians, 3 ISF 7 Shootings 31 IEDs 2 Rockets 6 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	17 Incidents 32 Killed: 7 Hashd, 11 ISF, 14 Civilians 60 Wounded: 12 ISF, 20 Hashd, 28 Civilians 8 Shootings 17 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 3 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Mortars 1 Suicide Bomber Killed 13 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq Sep 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Sep 1
Sep 2
Sep 3	Shah Siwan, Salahaddin	7	8
Sep 4
Sep 5	Karrada, Baghdad	12	37
Sep 6
Sep 7
Totals	2 – 0 Destroyed	19	45
Sep 8
Sep 9	Palestine St, Baghdad	40	60
Sep 10
Sep 11
Sep 12	Mosul-Baghdad Road & Zaizaa, Ninewa – 9 destroyed
Sep 13	West & Thar Thar, Anbar – 2 destroyed Khalis, Diyala – 1 destroyed Houd, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Sep 14	Shirqat & Telul Alpag, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
Totals	1 – 21 Destroyed	40	60
Sep 15
Sep 16
Sep 17
Sep 18	Khazir x3, Ninewa Sadoun St, Baghdad – 1 destroyed Al Hud, Ninewa – 1 destroyed	6	7
Sep 19
Sep 20	Shirqat x6, Salahaddin Baghdadi Island, Anbar – 1 destroyed Shirqat, Salahaddin – 7 destroyed
Sep 21	Shirqat, Salahaddin – 9 destroyed
Totals	9 – 19 Destroyed	6	7
Sep 22	Outside Rutba, Anbar – 3 destroyed Diyala-Sahaddin Highway, Diyala – 1 destroyed
Sep 23
Sep 24	Salam & Tikrit, Salahaddin	12	23
Sep 25	Camp Bravo, Anbar – 4 destroyed Houd, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
Sep 26	Khalis, Diyala Qayara, Ninewa – 1 destroyed	10	25
Sep 27	Karrada, Baghdad – 1 destroyed Houd, Ninewa – 3 destroyed Telul Alpag, Salahadin – 7 destroyed
Sep 28	Baiji, Salahaddin Baiji, Salahaddin – 6 destroyed	1	11
Totals	4 – 28 Destroyed	23	59

FOOTNOTES

1. Face Iraq, "Security agreement between the elders of Diyala, local government and al-Amiri to secure Abu Saida," 9/26/16

SOURCES

Face Iraq, "Security agreement between the elders of Diyala, local government and al-Amiri to secure Abu Saida," 9/26/16

Al Forat, "Frustrated Daesh car bomb south Qayyarah," 9/26/16

Iraqi News, "Battle to liberate Heet Island starts today," 9/28/16

- "Coalition air strike destroyed 3 ISIS car bombs near Mosul," 9/27/16

- "Coalition aircraft hits 2 ISIS car bombs and truck near Mosul," 9/25/16

- "Four villages liberated in Baghdadi Island," 9/22/16

- "Iraqi forces liberate 2 areas in Heet Island, kill 33 ISIS members," 9/28/16

- "Iraqi forces repulse ISIS attack on Tikrit, kill 15 militants," 9/28/16

- " Security forces liberate 5 areas in Albu Ziab Island near Ramadi," 9/28/16

Al Maalomah, "Closed the Karrada district fully to dismantle a car bomb," 9/27/16

- "Security forces control large swaths of the Albu Assaf area north of Ramadi," 9/22/16

Al Mada, "Daesh dominated Zawiya again after the withdrawal of the joint forces," 9/26/16

- "Security forces repeal Daesh attack killing 7 suicide bombers and 15 members north of Tikrit," 9/27/16

- "Tikrit bombing toll rises to 34 dead and wounded and al-Jabouri confirms the aim was to disturb the joy over Sharqat," 9/24/16

NINA, "Urgent..Al-Zwaiya village liberated and raising the Iraqi flag over its buildings," 9/24/16

Rudaw, "Two Iraqi towns in northern Anbar liberated from ISIS," 9/23/16

Shafaq News, "Urgent..repeled second Daesh attack within hours on Iraqi forces in Anbar," 9/25/16

Sotaliraq, “Detonated a bomb driven by a suicide bomber on Diyala and Salahuddin border," 9/22/16

-"Repelled Daesh attack of three car bombs on federal police headquarters," 9/22/16

Xinhua, "Security forces free 2 villages, archaeological site near Iraq's Shirqat," 9/25/16

- "Security forces take full control of Shirqat town in rumorss Salahuddin province," 9/22/16

- "Two provincial security chiefs survive suicide bomb attacks in Iraq's Salahudin, 8 killed," 9/24/16