Violence In Iraq, March 15-21, 2017

The number of security incidents dipped in Iraq during the third week of March 2017, but casualties remained relatively the same from the week before.

There were 142 incidents reported in the press from March 15-21, down from 170 the week before, and 179 the first week of March. The dip in violence might be a result of the stalemate in the battle for Mosul. The government forces have been stuck in the Old City section of west Mosul for the last few weeks leading to fewer clashes with the Islamic State. The third week of February when the assault upon west Mosul began there were 75 incidents in Ninewa. February 22-28 that went up to 102 incidents, then 108 March 1-7, 104 March 8-14, before going down to 87 Mach 15-21.

There were 560 killed and 1,166 injured during the week. 1 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 6 Hashd, 37 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 514 civilians died, and 2 Hashd, 3 Sahwa, 4 Peshmerga, 9 ISF, and 1,148 civilians were wounded.

Ninewa because of the fight for Mosul was obviously the deadliest province with 479 fatalities, followed by 41 in Baghdad, 26 in Salahaddin, 11 in Diyala, and 3 in Anbar. There were also 997 wounded in Ninewa, 88 in Baghdad, 65 in Salahaddin, 7 in Diyala, 4 in Anbar, 3 in Babil, and 2 in Kirkuk.

There were another series of car bombs in Anbar. Two went off in Hit on two separate days. No casualties were reported in either incident. Five of the other 7 incidents were all in the Hit to Haditha area in the western section of the province.

A stun grenade was thrown at a café in Iskandiriya in northern Babil that wounded 3.

The number of incidents has declined in Baghdad for five weeks straight. There were 42 from February 15-21, going down every week after that until reaching 29 from March 15-21. Despite that decline the number of casualties has remained relatively the same during four of those five weeks. After a three week hiatus a car bomb went off in the capital in Amin in the east that killed 23 and wounded 45, accounting for half of the dead and injured for the week. As usual, the majority of incidents were in the north, 10, and south 10, followed by 6 in the west, 3 in the east, and 0 in the center.

Insurgent activity remained low in Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahaddin. There were 7 incidents in Diyala, 2 in Kirkuk, and 9 in Salahaddin. The Islamic State either still holds territory or is rebuilding in those provinces. Despite that there are not that many attacks, although in Diyala and Salahaddin there are regular attempts at mass casualty bombings. From March 15-21 for example, a car bomb detonated and another was disabled in Tikrit.

Ninewa was obviously the most dangerous province. There were 87 incidents leading to 479 dead and 997 wounded. 25 bodies were found in a mass gave executed by the Islamic State outside of Mosul. There were seven incidents that could have either been mortars, artillery or air strikes coming from the Iraqis or Coalition that left 246 fatalities and 122 injured. The rest were all due to the Islamic State, mostly from mortar fire.

Violence In Iraq 2017

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
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	338
JAN	712	1,871	4,302
Feb 1-7	123	388	176
Feb 8-14	164	433	391
Feb 15-21	145	381	505
Feb 22-28	181	630 + 399	1,386 + 1,634
FEB	613	1,832 + 399	2,458 + 1,634
Mar 1-7	179	749	622
Mar 8-14	170	551	613
Mar 15-21	142	560	1,166

Violence By Province Mar 15-21, 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	7 Incidents 3 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 ISF 4 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF, 2 Sahwa 1 Shooting 4 IEDs 2 Car Bombs 1 Rockets
Babil	1 Incident 3 Wounded: 3 Civilians 1 Grenade
Baghdad	29 Incidents 41 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 37 Civilians 88 Wounded: 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 2 ISF, 83 Civilians 9 Shootings 17 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Car Bomb 1 Grenade 1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Diyala	7 Incidents 11 Killed: 2 ISF, 9 Civilians 7 Wounded: 2 ISF, 5 Civilians 3 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	2 Incidents 2 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF 4 IEDs
Ninewa	87 Incidents 479 Killed: 4 Hashd, 30 ISF, 445 Civilians 997 Wounded: 3 ISF, 994 Civilians 8 Shootings 15 IEDs 6 Suicide Car Bombs 3 Car Bombs 8 Rockets 18 Mortars 33 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed 56 Car Bombs Destroyed

SOURCES

Adel, Loaa, "Booby-trapped vehicle explodes in central Hit," Iraqi News, 3/16/17

Airwars, "March 15th-16th: Bab Al Tob area, Central Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

- "March 16th: Several neighbourhoods in the West of Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

- "March 17th: Medan neighborhood of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

- "March 18th: Al Mashahda Quarter of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

- "March 18th: Serjkhanh neighbourhood of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

- "March 20th 2017: Zanjili neighbourhood, West of Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

Faraj, Murtada, "Iraqi officials say Baghdad bombing kills at east 23," Associated Press, 3/20/17

Hennessy-Fiske, Molly, "Unearthing atrocities in Iraq's newest mass grave," Los Angeles Times, 3/14/17, https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2017/03/14/unearthing-atrocities-in-iraqs-newest-mass-graves/

Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: March 20, 2017," 3/20/17

Al Maalomah, "Security forces thwart bombing west Tikrit," 3/18/17

NINA, "Three people were injured in a stun grenade in a café in North of Babylon," 3/15/17

Reuters, "Car bomb kills 8, wounds dozens in Iraq's Tikrit city," 3/15/17

Al Sumaria, "A car bomb exploded west of Ramadi," 3/19/17