Violence In Iraq, March 22-28, 2017

Violence stayed at relatively the same level between the third and fourth week of March. There were 152 reported incidents in Iraq from March 22-28. That was roughly the same as the previous week when there were 142.

Again, Ninewa led the country in violence with 100 incidents due to the Battle for Mosul. After that there were 21 in Baghdad, 10 in Diyala, 8 in Anbar, 6 in Kirkuk, 5 in Salahaddin, and 1 each in Babil and Najaf.

There were 1,195 deaths reported and 575 wounded during the week. 6 Hashd al-Shaabi, 15 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 1,174 civilians died and 5 Hashd, 32 ISF, and 538 civilians were injured.

Ninewa led the country with 1,145 fatalities. There were than 15 in Anbar, 11 in Baghdad, 10 in Salahaddin, 7 each in Diyala and Kirkuk.

There was a slight increase in casualties in Anbar from the 4^th to 3^rd week of March because of air strikes. The Iraqi forces were blamed for two air attacks in western Iraq that killed 10 civilians and wounded 20 total. Almost all of the other attacks took place in the corridor from Ramadi to Fallujah. The Islamic State still holds the western section of the province so there are usually incidents there. The insurgents have re-infiltrated into the center of the province, and regularly attack the main towns and cities in that area.

Incidents in Baghdad continue to plummet. For almost two months now the number of reported attacks in the province has dropped. Since the third week of February the number of incidents has gone down each week from 42 from February 15-21, to 36 February 22-28, to 34 March 1-7, to 31 March 8-14, to 29 March 15-21, to 21 March 22-28. Those are the lowest numbers seen in the capital for years. Usually casualties have stayed at a steady pace, but those took a huge drop March 22-28 as well with just 11 killed and 45 wounded. Again, those types of figures have not been seen for years.

Reported Security Incidents in Baghdad 2017

Week	Incidents
Jan 1-7	46
Jan 8-14	45
Jan 15-21	32
Jan 22-28	43
Feb 1-7	31
Feb 8-14	30
Feb 15-21	42
Feb 21-28	36
Mar 1-7	34
Mar 8-14	31
Mar 15-21	29
Mar 22-28	21

Security remained steady in Diyala, Salahaddin and Kirkuk. There were just 10 incidents in Diyala with 7 dead and 1 wounded. 6 attacks in Kirkuk with 7 fatalities and 9 injured. Finally in Salahaddin there were just 5 attacks, 10 deaths and 7 wounded. These are the three provinces where the Islamic State either still holds territory are or rebuilding in the rural areas. Despite that they are not that active in the governorates.

Ninewa was obviously the center of violence in Iraq because of the on going campaign to liberate Mosul. There were 100 incidents leading to 1,145 deaths and 487 wounded. All but one of the casualties took place inside the city. The Islamic State was accused of executing 90 people. Coalition air strikes, topped off by the Jadida incident that might have taken the lives of 240 people, were blamed for a total of 326 deaths and 26 wounded. The Islamic State was responsible for the vast majority of casualties because it is constantly shelling areas in Mosul. Iraqi artillery and air strikes however are also taking a toll. The huge rise in the dead and wounded from the battle for the east side of the city to west is caused by a number of factors. First, the Islamic State has changed its tactics. Where before it would kick people out of their homes to use them as a fire position, they are now not only keeping people in them, but forcing groups into buildings to try to deter attacks on them by the Iraqis and Coalition. Second, the Coalition has made it much easier to call in air strikes. The Iraqi forces are also using more air, helicopter, mortar and artillery. Finally, Baghdad told the civilian population of Mosul to stay in the city, because the authorities and aid groups did not have the resources to take care of them if they left. This has been a huge misstep as people first got in the way of the fighting, and are now being manipulated by the insurgents. The result was that 1,132 civilians were reportedly killed and 487 wounded during the week. The real numbers are higher.

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
Mar 22-28	152	1,195	575

Violence By Province Mar 22-28, 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	8 Incidents 15 Killed: 1 ISF, 14 Civilians 21 Wounded: 1 ISF, 20 Civilians 1 Shooting 3 IEDs 1 Suicide bomber 1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Babil	1 Incident 5 Wounded: 5 Hashd 1 IED
Baghdad	21 Incidents 11 Killed: 1 ISF, 10 Civilians 45 Wounded: 2 ISF, 43 Civilians 2 Shootings 16 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb
Diyala	10 Incidents 7 Killed: 3 Civilians, 4 Hashd 1 Wounded: 1 ISF 4 Shootings 2 IEDs
Kirkuk	6 Incidents 7 Killed: 7 Civilians 9 Wounded: 2 ISF, 7 Civilians 2 Shootings 2 IEDs
Najaf	1 Incident 1 Shooting
Ninewa	100 Incidents 1,145 Killed: 13 ISF, 1,132 Civilians 487 Wounded: 26 ISF, 461 Civilians 13 Shootings 1 Sticky Bomb 2 Suicide Bombers 5 Car Bombs 30 Mortars 16 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed 76 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	5 Incidents 10 Killed: 2 Hashd, 8 Civilians 7 Wounded: 7 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 Mortar