Security In Iraq, May 8-14, 2018

There was a positive and a negative aspect to security in Iraq during the second week of May. First, there were no major Islamic State attacks during the elections which were on May 12. On the other hand, the number of incidents remained the same between the first and second week of the month despite the heavy security deployment for the balloting.

There were 56 incidents reported form May 8-14. That was almost the same amount as the previous week when there were 51. This occurred even though there was heavy security during the middle of the week for the special voting for the Iraqi forces and then for the general election. Kirkuk saw the most violence with 21 incidents. That was the most since July 15-21, 2014. The voting seemed to bring out the worse in that province.  

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province May 8-14, 2018

Anbar 2

Ninewa 2

Baghdad 4

Kurdistan 4

Sulaymaniya 4

Salahaddin 9

Diyala 10

Kirkuk 21

Casualties In Iraq By Province May 8-14, 2018

Baghdad 1 (1 Killed)

Anbar 2 (2 Wounded)

Ninewa 5 (4 Killed, 1 Wounded)

Sulaymaniya 6 (6 Wounded)

Diyala 12 (3 Killed, 9 Wounded)

Kurdistan 22 (22 Killed)

Salahaddin 22 (11 Killed, 11 Wounded)

Kirkuk 47 (27 Killed, 20 Wounded)

Casualties remained relatively the same as the week before as well. The first week of May there were 57 deaths and 57 wounded for a total of 113 casualties. The second week there were 68 killed and 49 injured for a sum of 117. 13 civilians, 16 members of the Iraqi Security (ISF), 17 Hashd al-Shaabi, and 22 Turkish soldiers lost their lives, and another 8 Hashd, 16 ISF and 25 civilians were wounded.

Anbar and Ninewa have been very quiet for weeks now. During the second week of May there were only two incidents in Anbar. One of those was a shooting at a voting center in Fallujah. Likewise in Ninewa there were also only two attacks, both of which were IEDs.

The capital province was locked down for the balloting. There were only 4 incidents, the lowest amount ever recorded by Musings On Iraq. A candidate from Vice President’s Wataniya list was shot at and a car bomb was discovered and dismantled in the north. At the start of the year Baghdad was the focus of a new terrorist campaign by IS, but that has now ended and the governorate has witnessed the best security since the 2003 invasion.

Diyala was unaffected by the increased security. There were 10 incidents, which was almost the same as the 14 the week before. A candidate from the PUK was wounded in a shooting, IS fired mortars at three villages, an attack by the insurgents was repulsed, and 2 suicide bombers were killed. The insurgents have rebuilt their cadres in the rural areas of Diyala and are able to carry out attacks up and down the length of the governorate as a result. This week, half of the incidents were in the Khanaqin district in the northeast.

Things exploded in Kirkuk. There were several confrontations with the insurgents, which left 9 police and 5 soldiers dead. Two voting centers were hit by mortars. The rest were mostly IEDs. Almost all the attacks were spread across the Dibis district in the north and Hawija in the south. After federal forces took over the province in October after the Kurdish independence referendum political and insurgent violence spiked. Things finally calmed down in March. It appears militants were building up for the elections.

The largest Turkish operation inside Kurdistan for years continued for the second month. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacked Turkey’s forces in four locations leaving 22 dead soldiers. Ankara has reinforced its existing bases, built new ones, occupied several towns all in an attempt to cut off and isolate the PKK from its routes into southern Turkey. That has prompted the Kurdish group to fight back leading to constant clashes.

Salahaddin was the other area where stepped up security failed to do much. There were 9 incidents there including 6 suicide bombers that attempted to attack Balad. 5 Hashd died in an assault on a checkpoint. That was about the norm there for the last several weeks.

Sulaymaniya city saw some election inspired violent. A TV station was fired at, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan launched an attack upon the Change movements headquarters, and then the next day a TV station was seized and the Justice and Democracy Coalition had its offices shot at. Those parties and others in the opposition accused the PUK of widespread voter fraud in Kirkuk and Kurdistan. The PUK responded with these intimidation tactics.

Security In Iraq 2017-18

Week	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN 2017	719	1,923	4,374
FEB	628	1,891 + 399	2,511 + 1,634
MAR	720	3,504 + 278	3,302 + 2,925
APR	578	2,933	1,955
MAY	528	2,038	1,563
JUN	534	2,038	1,563
JUL	478	1,490	650
AUG	359	1,949	584
SEP	306	728	549
OCT	286	913	865 + 1,700
NOV	296	1,282	425
DEC	261	763	300
Jan 1-7	71	50	66
Jan 8-14	64	62	70
Jan 15-21	68	156	151
Jan 22-28	68	148	66
Jan 29-31	27	23	22
JAN 2018	298	439	375
Feb 1-7	66	196	67
Feb 8-14	65	63	93
Feb 15-21	59	346	43
Feb 22-28	55	44	72
FEB	245	649	275
Mar 1-7	78	120	84
Mar 8-14	60	84	61
Mar 15-21	67	168	98
Mar 22-28	81	213	61
Mar 29-31	21	26	35
MAR	307	611	339
Apr 1-7	40	174	29
Apr 8-14	64	175	83
Apr 15-21	44	63	72
Apr 22-28	44	62	48
Apr 29-30	12	12	4
APR	204	486	236
May 1-7	51	57	56
May 8-14	56	68	49

Violence By Province May 8-14, 2018

Province	Violence
Anbar	2 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 ISF 1 Shooting 1 IED
Baghdad	4 Incidents 1 Killed 1 Civilian
Diyala	10 Incidents 3 Killed 1 ISF 2 Civilians 9 Wounded 3 ISF 6 Civilians 2 Shootings 1 IED 1 Sticky Bomb 3 Mortars 2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kirkuk	21 Incidents 27 Killed 4 Hashd 8 Civilians 15 ISF 20 Wounded 9 Civilians 11 ISF 5 Shootings 12 IEDs 2 Sticky Bobs 1 Rocket 2 Mortars 1 Grenade
Kurdistan	4 Incidents 22 Killed 22 Turkish Soldiers 4 Shootings
Ninewa	2 Incidents 4 Killed 1 Civilian 3 Hashd 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 2 IEDs
Salahaddin	9 Incidents 11 Killed 1 Civilian 10 Hashd 11 Wounded 3 Civilians 8 Hashd 1 Shooting 3 IEDs 1 Mortar 7 Suicide Bombers Killed
Sulaymaniya	4 Incidents 6 Wounded 6 Civilians 3 Shootings

SOURCES

Aldroubi, Mina, “Iraq’s north faces instability after polls close,” The National, 5/13/18

Anadolu Post, "Turkish soldier martyred in northern Iraq," 5/8/18

Baghdad Post, "5 Iran-backed IMIS terrorists killed in clashes with ISIS," 5/11/18

- “Gunmen attack headquarters of Justice and Democracy Coalition,” 5/13/18

Bas News, "Unidentified Armed Men Open Fire at Kurdistan TV Office in Sulaymaniya," 5/11/18

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "4 Islamic State terrorists killed while trying to target security sites in Kirkuk," Iraqi News, 5/14/18

- "Iraqi army, Kurdish troops repulse Islamic State attack in Diyala," Iraqi News, 5/9/18

Al Ghad Press, "A medical assistant was killed and an ambulance driver was wounded by a roadside bomb west of Mosul," 5/13/18

- "Three people were injured when a mortar shell hit a house near an election center in Jalawla, Diyala," 5/11/18

Iraq News Center, "Urgent Heavy gunfire near an electoral center in Al-Resalah neighborhood of Fallujah," 5/10/18

Iraq Newspaper, "3 Killed From The Popular Crowd In Detonation Of An Explosive Device in The Area Of Hamam al-Ail South Of Mosul," 5/10/18

Al Maalomah, "A civilian was killed and another was injured by a mortar shell landing in the center of Abu Saida," 5/10/18

NINA, "The candidate Zitoun al-Dulaimi was subjected to an assassination attempt south of Baghdad," 5/8/18

- "The PKK announces the killing of 21 Turkish soldiers," 5/9/18

Rudaw, "Update: 9 Iraqi Federal Police killed in southwest Kirkuk," 5/12/18

Shafaaq News, "Six suicide bombers were killed by a Shiite shrine and polling station in Iraq," 5/11/18

Sulaivany, Karzan, "Kurdish candidate in Iraqi elections survives assassination attempt in Khanaqin," Kurdistan 24, 5/10/18

Al Sumaria, "Baghdad operations announced the seizure of a car bomb and detonated it under control north of the capital," 5/9/18

- "Diyala announces the killing of two militants who were planning on targeting an election center in Baquba," 5/12/18

- "Five soldiers were wounded in an armed attack southwest Kirkuk," 5/9/18

- "Two mortar shells landed in the outskirts of the vicinity of Qara Tappa in Diyala," 5/10/18