Security In Iraq Oct 8-14, 2017

Iraq had another week of very low violence. There have been less than one hundred security incidents reported for the last eleven weeks. Casualties were high however as the government made a rare announcement of casualties from the Hawija operation.

From October 8-14, 2017, there were just 72 incidents reported in Iraq. Since July 15-21, there have been less than one hundred incidents in the last 12 of 13 weeks. This is a sign of the collapse of the Islamic State since its defeat in the battle of Mosul.

Broken down by province there were 21 incidents in Baghdad, 13 in Ninewa, 11 in Anbar, 11 in Kirkuk, 10 in Salahaddin, 4 in Babil, and 2 in Sulaymaniya.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Oct 8-14, 2017

Baghdad 21

Ninewa 13

Anbar 11

Kirkuk 11

Salahaddin 10

Babil 4

Sulaymaniya 2

A total of 352 deaths were recorded and 85 wounded during the week. 1 Peshmerga, 2 Hashd al-Shaabi, 21 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 328 civilians lost their lives, and 6 ISF, 11 Hashd, and 68 civilians were injured.

There were 224 casualties in Kirkuk, 80 in Ninewa, 60 in Anbar, 47 in Baghdad, 17 in Salahaddin, 6 in Babil, and 3 in Sulaymaniya.

Casualties In Iraq By Province Oct 8-14, 2017

Kirkuk 224 (221 Killed, 3 Wounded)

Ninewa 80 (73 Killed, 7 Wounded)

Anbar 60 (35 Killed, 25 Wounded)

Baghdad 47 (7 Killed, 40 Wounded)

Salahaddin 17 (15 Killed, 2 Wounded)

Babil 6 (6 Wounded)

Sulaymaniya 3 (1 Killed, 2 Wounded)

There were just 11 incidents in Anbar during the week. Five of those attacks however were suicide bombings. Only one was successful in Hit, which left 12 dead and 17 wounded, while the others led to eight dead bombers. A car bomb was also dismantled outside of Ramadi. The Islamic State was active in both central Anbar as well as in the west where it was carrying out pre-emptive strikes on the security forces before they re-started their operation to free the area. A Coalition air strike was also blamed for 20 deaths and 2 wounded in Qaim.

The insurgents were still harassing the Jurf al-Sakhr area of northwest Babil. There were just 4 incidents in the province, but three of those were in Jurf al-Sakhr. That included two shootings and an IED that left a total of 6 Hashd wounded. 2 IEDs also went off in Hillah. For the last several months, IS has been re-infiltrating this area after being driven out in 2014. Jurf has been absent any civilians since that period as they were cleared out by the security forces and not allowed to return since then. That makes the militants’ activities all the more significant as they have no people to hide amongst and find support.

Violence in Baghdad remained at historic lows. There were only 21 incidents leading to 7 dead and 40 wounded. One suicide bomber was arrested, but otherwise all of the other incidents were low level with 1 sticky bomb, 4 shootings, and 11 IEDs. The militants were still most active in the south, 8 incidents, and north, 6.

The Iraqi authorities  went through their usual death inflation in the Hawija campaign. Initlaly they claimed that 385 IS fighters were killed in the campaign on October 8, which quickly rose to 1,316 on October 12. The ISF had been pretty consistent with 200-300 dead insurgents, so that figure suddenly increasing four to five times higher in just a few days seemed to follow the government’s pattern of releasing huge IS fatalities to increase its victory narrative in the war. There was also a clash between the Hashd and Peshmerga at the start of the week in the Hawija district. The other significant incidents were Dawa and Turkmen Front offices being attacked in Kirkuk city three times, likely a sign of the brewing political tensions after the Kurdish independence referendum.

Civil defense teams continued to discover bodies in Mosul. In the Old City district 60 bodies were recovered three months after the battle for the city concluded. IS was still carrying out harassing attacks across Ninewa as well as planting IEDs in Mosul itself, including a rocket attack upon a Hashd office in the city. On the other hand, there are continued reports of people taking their revenge upon IS members, their families and sympathizers in Mosul. A Ninewa councilman also called for the dismissal of the tribal Hashd in the province because they were no longer needed. There are dozens of such groups who are connected to sheikhs and politicians. They were created because Baghdad had no plan for post-IS security, and has not brought back or rebuilt the provincial police force. There have been constant complains about their lack of coordination with the security forces, and their rivalries with each other.  

Salahaddin witnessed a mix of local, political, and insurgent violence. First, there were a series of clashes and attacks in Tuz Kharmato including a gun battle between the Hashd and Peshmerga, the Communist Party offices being attacked by grenades, and the house of Turkmen politician being mortared. On the other hand, IS attacked Balad, Baiji, Yathrib, and the Makhoul Mountains with suicide and car bombs.

Security In Iraq 2017

Week	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	188	509	1,346
Jan 8-14	168	371	1,036
Jan 15-21	137	585	1,262
Jan 22-28	145	289	310
Jan 29-31	74	127	338
JAN	712	1,881	4,292
Feb 1-7	123	388	176
Feb 8-14	164	434	390
Feb 15-21	148	393	508
Feb 22-28	185	647 + 399	1,390 + 1,634
FEB	620	1,862 + 399	2,464 + 1,634
Mar 1-7	179	749	622
Mar 8-14	171	551	614
Mar 15-21	143	571	1,166
Mar 22-28	152	1,233	575
Mar 29-31	71	374 + 278	288 + 2,925
MAR	716	3,478 + 278	3,265 + 2,925
Apr 1-7	174	903	487
Apr 8-14	126	599	669
Apr 15-21	108	479	449
Apr 22-28	122	698	328
Apr 29-30	39	138	51
APR	569	2,817	1,984
May 1-7	106	405	468
May 8-14	109	601	386
May 15-21	132	363	224
May 22-28	106	433	150
May 29-31	69	214	236
MAY	522	2,016	1,464
Jun 1-7	136	1,403	487
Jun 8-14	127	658	174
Jun 15-21	114	480	101
Jun 22-28	119	340	246
Jun 29-30	37	349	127
JUN	533	3,230	1,135
JAN-JUN	3,669	15,262 + 677	14,497 + 4,559
Jul 1-7	141	798	331
Jul 8-14	105	298	86
Jul 15-21	87	124	72
Jul 22-28	107	189	122
Jul 29-31	37	50	25
JUL	477	1,459	636
Aug 1-7	80	143	188
Aug 8-14	88	955	124
Aug 15-21	73	97	100
Aug 22-28	85	674	132
Aug 29-31	31	30	40
AUG	357	1,958	1,261
Sep 1-7	62	68	73
Sep 8-14	78	412	176
Sep 15-21	91	145	180
Sep 22-28	52	78	104
Sep 29-30	23	25	16
SEP	306	728	549
Oct 1-7	63	60	82
Oct 8-14	72	133	85

Violence By Province Oct 8-14, 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	11 Incidents 35 Killed 35 Civilians 25 Wounded 25 Civilians 1 Shooting 2 Grenades 8 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Babil	4 Incidents 6 Wounded 6 Hashd 2 Shootings 3 IEDs
Baghdad	21 Incidents 7 Killed 1 Hashd 6 Civilians 40 Wounded 3 ISF 5 Hashd 32 Civilians 4 Shootings 11 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested
Kirkuk	11 Incidents 2 Killed 1 Hashd 1 Civilian 3 Wounded 3 Civilians 5 Shootings 1 IED 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Grenades 1 Rockets
Ninewa	13 Incidents 73 Killed 7 ISF 66 Civilians 7 Wounded 3 ISF 4 Civilians 5 Shootings 7 IEDs 1 Rockets
Salahaddin	10 Incidents 15 Killed 1 Civilian 14 ISF 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Grenades 1 Mortar 2 Suicide Bombers Killed 4 Car Bombs Destroyed
Sulaymaniya	2 Incidents 1 Killed 1 Peshmerga 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 2 Shootings

SOURCES

Airwars, "October 13th 2017: (I671) Al Qaim, Anbar province, Iraq"

Baghdad Post, "3 ISIS suicide bombers killed in Anbar," 10/13/17

- "Suicide bomber killed in Anbar's Hit city," 10/10/17

Al Baghdadiya News, “Joint operations say 1319 terrorists were killed during the battle to liberate Hawija,” 10/12/17

- "The Kurdish Communist Party in Tuz Kharmato was attacked by grenades," 10/14/17

Daily Sabah, “Peshmerga, Hashd al-Shaabi reportedly clash in northern Iraq,” 10/13/17

Al Ghad Press, "After a suicide bombing … Security forces kill another suicide bomber in Hit," 10/11/17

- "Gunmen launch a RPG-7 rocket at the headquarters of the Dawa Party in central Kirkuk," 10/9/17

- "Twenty-nine people were killed and injured as the final result of a suicide bombing," 10/11/17

Iraq Newspaper, "Iraqi Newspaper: Daash Suicide Bombers Near Baiji Killed Commando Commander," 10/13/17

Al Maalomah, "Attack on Popular Crowd Site In Gogjali, Mosul," 10/14/17

- “Ninewa government calls for the disbandment of the tribal crowd in the province immediately because it is not important,” 10/10/17

- "The popular crowd foils attack by Daash criminals near Yathrib south Salahaddin," 10/12/17

- "The popular crowd kills a Daash suicide bomber south Salahaddin," 10/14/17

- "Three suicide bombers were killed when they tried to sneak into a residential area of west Anbar," 10/10/17

Al Mada, “Local groups pursue Daash supporters in Mosul districts,” 10/4/17

Al Masalah, "Popular crowd repulsed suicide attack near the Riyad district of Hawija," 10/7/17

Mostafa, Nehal, "Paramilitary troops kill IS militant attempting suicide attack, north of Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 10/12/17

- "Security troops kill IS member trying to booby-trap vehicle, west of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 10/14/17

NINA, "Four members of the popular crowd wounded north of Babylon," 10/10/17

- "Two gunmen killed north of Babylon," 10/13/17

- "Two members of the popular crowd were wounded by gunfire north Babylon," 10/8/17

Al Rafidain, "The Civil Defense Teams Retrieved 60 Bodies Of Civilians, Most Of Them Women and Children, From The Rubble Of Old Mosul," 10/9/17

Al Sumaria, "Babil: Hilla explosion targeted the Korek company and no casualties," 10/13/17

- "Baghdad operations: the arrest of an additional Daash battalion commander and suicide bomber," 10/13/17

- "A bomb exploded near the headquarters of the Turkmen Front in central Kirkuk," 10/11/17

- "Targeting the headquarters of the Dawa Party in central Kirkuk for second time in a week," 10/12/17

- "Turkmen Front: MP Oglu survived a mortar attack that led to the amputation of his son's hand," 10/15/17