Violence In Iraq Feb 8-14, 2017

There was an increase in violence in Iraq during the second week of February because of Islamic State attacks in Mosul. There were a total of 163 incidents recorded, the most since the second week of January. Ninewa had the most with 95, Baghdad had 30, Basra 10, Diyala 9, Anbar 8, Salahaddin 6, and Kirkuk 5.

Those incidents led to 417 dead and 381 wounded, the highest figures since the third week of January when the Iraqi forces finished the liberation of east Mosul. A total of 16 Hashd, 25 members of the Iraqi forces (ISF), and 376 civilians lost their lives, and another 20 Hashd, 44 ISF, and 317 civilians were injured.

Ninewa was the deadliest province with 315 killed and 240 wounded. Baghdad was next with 45 dead and 95 wounded. After that there were 26 deaths in Kirkuk, 18 in Diyala, 7 in Anbar, 4 in Salahaddin, and 2 in Basra.

Anbar had the regular series of low level attacks punctuated with a large one. The latter took the form of a suicide car bomb on a checkpoint in Amiriya Fallujah. The rest were rockets, 1, shootings, 2, and IEDs, 4, that left a total of 7 dead and 24 wounded. Most of those came in the area between Fallujah and Ramadi showing that the Islamic State has returned to that area after the government freed it.

Since the Mosul battle began in October the number of attacks in the capital province has gone down. From February 8-14 there were 30 incidents in Baghdad that led to 45 dead and 95 injured. What have gone up is car bombs, with 3 during the week. Since the Mosul campaign started IS has dramatically increased the number of vehicle bombs aimed at Baghdad. The main form of violence however was the 18 IEDs. As usual the south with 11 incidents was the most violent in the governorate. There were also 7 in the west, 6 in the north, 3 in the east, 2 in the center, and one in an unknown location. IS is operating in the city’s suburbs and sending in bombers from Anbar and Diyala. The security forces are constantly doing sweeps through these “belt” areas as they are called, but to limited effect. The governor of Baghdad talked about a new high tech security system for the city, but that has been clouded in controversy and accusations of massive fraud and corruption.

Basra has seen a recent increase in attacks. There were three shootings and 18 IEDs during the week almost all of which occurred in Basra city. First 12 music shops were bombed, then the secretary general of Hezbollah Iraq was assassinated, followed by the bombing of a Dawa official and then the Election Commission offices were shot at. The growing violence led some Iranian backed Hashd groups to call for them to take over security in the province, which got some push back from the head of the Basra council. While there is plenty of speculation on why music stores were bombed, the other incidents were obviously politically motivated.

Diyala is another area where the insurgents have re-grouped. The number of incidents there has gone up in the last month, but they are still at a low level. During the week there were four shootings and 4 IEDs leading to 18 deaths and 12 injured. There are several suspected militant bases in places like the Hamrin Mountains, Abu Saida, around Baladrooz, and others. IS however, mostly uses Diyala to feed fighters and explosives into Baghdad although a few times a month there are mass casualty bombings in the province itself.

Most of the violence in Kirkuk remained executions by the Islamic State as it attempts to maintain control over the Hawija district. A total of 23 people were killed by the group during the week. There were also two attacks inside the city of Kirkuk. In total 26 people died and 2 were wounded in the province. Hawija is a major source of instability in northern Iraq. IS has been using it to funnel men into neighboring Salahaddin and Diyala.

Even though east Mosul was liberated a month ago the city is becoming more violent. There were a total of 95 incidents in Ninewa leading to 315 dead and 240 wounded. Almost all those casualties occurred within Mosul. IS executed 99 people in west Mosul, and Coalition air strikes were blamed for 5 deaths and 7 injured. Most of the rest came in east Mosul due to 1 suicide car bomb, 3 car bombs, 6 suicide bombers, along with daily mortar, rocket and drone strikes. While more people are returning to the city now, several hundred people are still leaving each day as well to escape these constant attacks.

Salahaddin officials have been complaining about IS cells operating in the eastern districts. The security forces have repeatedly gone through those areas, but have never rooted out the insurgents. In the last two weeks attacks have remained small in the governorate with a mix of shootings and bombings. A car bomb did go off during the week in Tikrit, another sign that IS has been able to re-infiltrate into liberated areas across the country.

Violence In Iraq By Month 2016-2017

Month	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan	723	2,418	1,986
Feb	657	1,685	1,724
Mar	683	1,685	2,095
1st Qtr Daily Avg/91	22.6	63.6	63.7
Apr	630	1,840	1,904
May	675	1,644	2,484
Jun	631	2,111	6,455
2nd Qtr Daily Avg/91	21.2	61.4	119.1
Jul	531	1,329	1,708
Aug	574	1,263	1,376
Sep	573	1,203	1,602
3rd Qtr Daily Avg/92	18.2	41.2	50.9
Oct	589	2,965	2,376
Nov	599	4,389	3,972
Dec	585	1,566	11,681
4th Qtr Daily Avg/92	19.2	96.9	195.6
Jan 1-7	188	509	1,346
Jan 8-14	168	363	1,044
Jan 15-21	137	583	1,264
Jan 22-28	145	289	310
Jan 29-31	74	127	134
JAN	712	1,871	4,098
Feb 1-7	123	388	176
Feb 8-14	163	417	381

Province	Violence
Anbar	8 Incidents 7 Killed: 1 Civilian, 6 ISF 24 Wounded: 9 Civilians, 15 ISF 2 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Rockets
Baghdad	30 Incidents 45 Killed: 1 Hashd, 2 ISF, 42 Civilians 95 Wounded: 3 ISF, 92 Civilians 4 Shootings 18 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 3 Car Bombs 1 Rockets
Basra	10 Incidents 2 Killed: 1 Civilian, 1 Hashd 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 3 Shootings 18 IEDs
Diyala	9 Incidents 18 Killed: 8 Hashd, 10 Civilians 12 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 4 Civilians, 5 ISF 4 Shootings 4 IEDs
Kirkuk	5 Incidents 26 Killed: 1 ISF, 25 Civilians 2 Wounded: 2 Civilians 2 Shootings 2 IEDs
Ninewa	95 Incidents 315 Killed: 4 Hashd, 15 ISF, 296 Civilians 240 Wounded: 12 Hashd, 20 ISF, 208 Civilians 23 Shootings 16 IEDs 6 Suicide Bombers 1 Suicide Car Bomb 3 Car Bombs 15 Mortars 11 Rockets 22 Drone Strikes 33 Suicide Bombers Killed/Arrested 39 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	6 Incidents 4 Killed: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF, 2 Hashd 7 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF, 5 Hashd 4 Shootings 1 Car Bomb 1 Suicide Bomber Killed

SOURCES

Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, "Iraqi officials: Suicide bombings in eastern Mosul kill 5," Associated Press, 2/10/17

Al-Aqily, Ali, Al-Jabiri, Jassim, and Van Heuvelen, Ben, "Assassination and bombings roil Basra," Iraq Oil report, 2/15/17

Anadolu Agency, "Separate attacks in western Iraq leave 3 soldiers dead," 2/9/17

Al Araby, "Fatal car bomb hits south Baghdad's industrial area," 2/15/17

Bas News, "Iraqi Hizbollah Secretary General Killed in Basrah," 2/9/17

Al Mada, "Bombing of 12 music shops raises concerns about security in Basra," 2/8/17

- “Conflict of powers between 4 military leaders to secure Metaibija and the Hamrin Hills from Daesh,” 2/14/17

NINA, "An officer killed and another one wounded in a car bomb explosion during dismantling it north of Tikrit," 2/11/17

Rudaw, "Protesters rally in Baghdad calling for electoral reform," 2/10/17

UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, "Statement on the attack against the IHEC Electoral Office in Basra," 2/12/17

Xinhua, "9 killed in car bomb attack in Baghdad," 2/11/17