Security In Iraq Largely Unchanged In May 2018

Security didn’t change much from April to May 2018. The number of incidents was roughly the same with 204 in April and 218 in May. There were 486 deaths in April, but 246 were bodies found leaving 240 violent deaths for the month. In May, there were a total of 298 deaths, but 25 of those were corpses discovered leaving 273 killed during the month.

Casualties consisted of 28 Hashd al-Shaabi, 33 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), 44 Turkish soldiers, 45 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 148 civilian fatalities, while 8 Turkish soldiers, 18 Hashd, 70 ISF, and 157 civilians were wounded.

Casualties In Iraq By Province Mar-Apr 2018

Province	Apr 2018	May 2018
Anbar	59 (7 K, 52 W)	25 (6 K, 19 W)
Babil	3 (1 K, 2 W)	4 (4 W)
Baghdad	51 (11 K, 40 W)	146 (61 K, 85 W)
Basra	1 (1 W)	-
Dhi Qar	-	2 (2 K)
Diyala	51 (17 K, 34 W)	80 (46 K, 34 W)
Dohuk	3 (3 K)	-
Irbil	66 (53 K, 13 W)	5 (5 K)
Kirkuk	62 (25 K, 37 W)	90 (43 K, 47 W)
KRG	94 (88 K, 6)	80 (72 K, 8 W)
Ninewa	279 (261 K, 18 W)	65 (34 K, 31 W)
Salahaddin	53 (20 K, 33W)	48 (29 K, 19 W)
Sulaymaniya	-	6 (6 W)

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Mar-Apr 2018

Province	Apr	May
Anbar	15	9
Babil	3	4
Baghdad	35	46
Basra	2	-
Dhi Qar	-	1
Diyala	44	38
Dohuk	2	-
Irbil	8	2
Kirkuk	36	48
KRG	17	15
Ninewa	24	20
Salahaddin	18	30
Sulaymaniya	-	4

Violence continued its sharp decline in Anbar with incidents going from 15 in April to just 9 in May. There was a slight increase in attacks from January to March, but that has gone down to probably the lowest level since 2003 to an average of just 0.2 per day.

Diyala saw a decline from 44 incidents in April to 38 in May. Attacks there have constantly fluctuated up and down for over a year now. The province is one of the main areas where the Islamic State is rebuilding, and the types of attacks have changed. For example, there was a mortar attack upon a checkpoint and then several policemen were kidnapped by insurgents. Grenades were thrown at the house of the brother of a Federal Police commander. 2 suicide bomber were killed, while another set off his device while assaulting a village in the Khanaqin district in the northeast. The militants also burned crops in two towns. These were all attempts to re-assert the group’s control over rural areas in the province, and intimidate the security forces, tactics the group has used for years. They are being repeated in other provinces as well.

The situation in Ninewa was largely unchanged. There was an average of 0.8 incidents per day in April going down to 0.6 per day in May. At the end of the month there were six confrontations with insurgents leading to gun battles, but the real news was the huge number of bodies still being dug out of the Old City district in west Mosul after officials said that job was done. Because the authorities are not checking the IDs of the corpses they have not disclosed how many were insurgents and how many were civilians, so most of them have not been added to the monthly body counts. That was also the cause of the large difference in casualties from 279 in April to 65 in May. In April, most of the bodies excavated were said to be civilians, while little information was given about those in May.

Baghdad witnessed an increase in casualties due to several large attacks. Islamic State fighters went into a town in Tarmiya in the north killing 21 and wounding 10. Two weeks later a suicide bomber hit a funeral in that same district leaving 8 killed and 31 injured. The week after that another suicide bomber blew up a café with 7 dead and 16 wounded. That was the reason why casualties went from 51 in April to 146 in May.

Kirkuk, 36 incidents in April and 48 in May, and Salahaddin 18 in April and 30 in May also saw more insurgent activity. There was a huge number of attacks during the week of voting in Kirkuk, the most seen in years. Towards the end of the month 8 suicide bombers were intercepted by the security forces, but 4 were able to blow themselves up. IS also burnt wheat fields in a town. In Salahaddin there were 11 gun battles with insurgents, 7 suicide bombers were killed in two separate incidents, there was one successful suicide bombing, and attack upon a town and a Federal Police base. Like Diyala these were all attempts by IS to make a comeback.

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
May 15-21	39	58	82
May 22-28	51	73	51
May 29-31	21	42	15
MAY	218	298	253

Violence By Province May 2018

Province	Violence
Anbar	9 Incidents 6 Killed 1 ISF 5 Civilians 19 Wounded 9 Civilians 10 ISF 2 Shootings 7 IEDs
Babil	4 Incidents 4 Wounded 1 Civilian 3 Hashd 3 IEDs
Baghdad	46 Incidents 61 Killed 1 Hashd 3 ISF 57 Civilians 85 Wounded 3 ISF 82 Civilians 16 Shootings 14 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers 2 Grenades 1 Mortar 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Dhi Qar	1 Incident 2 Killed 2 Civilians 1 IED
Diyala	38 Incidents 46 Killed 9 ISF 37 Civilians 34 Wounded 13 ISF 21 Civilians 11 Shootings 9 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber 4 Mortars 1 Grenade 1 Rocket 2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Irbil	2 Incidents 5 Killed 5 Turkish Soldiers 2 Shootings
Kirkuk	48 Incidents 43 Killed 7 Hashd 17 ISF 19 Civilians 47 Wounded 3 Hashd 16 Civilians 28 ISF 14 Shootings 22 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 4 Suicide Bombers 3 Sound Bombs 1 Rocket 4 Mortars 1 Grenade 4 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kurdistan	15 Incidents 72 Killed 33 PKK 39 Turkish Soldiers 8 Wounded 8 Turkish Soldiers 8 Shootings 3 Turkish Air Strikes 1 Mortar
Maysan	1 Incident 1 IED
Ninewa	20 Incidents 34 Killed 4 ISF 4 Hashd 26 Civilians 31 Wounded 13 ISF 18 Civilians 1 Shootings 6 IEDs
Salahaddin	30 Incidents 29 Killed 2 Civilians 11 ISF 16 Hashd 19 Wounded 3 ISF 4 Civilians 12 Hashd 14 Shootings 10 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Mortar 7 Suicide Bombers Killed
Sulaymaniya	4 Incidents 6 Wounded 6 Civilians 3 Shootings

SOURCES

AIN, "The popular crowd repulsed Daesh, northwest Dujail," 5/26/18

Anadolu Agency, "Suicide bombers kill two security men in Iraq's Kirkuk," 5/24/18

Associated Press, "Iraq says suicide bomber kills 7 in Baghdad park," 5/24/18

Baghdad Post, "ISIS terrorists attack Iran-backed IMIS Militias northern Saladin," 5/30/18

Bas News, "Iraq: Islamic State Raids Village, Burns People's Properties," 5/30/18

- "Iraqi Troops, IS Insurgents Clash in Salahaddin: Report," 5/26/18

- "IS Kills, Wounds Nine Iraqi Troops in Northwestern Diyala: Source," 5/3/18

Al Ghad Press, "The brother of the Director of the Office of the Federal Police Commander was injured after being targeted by hand grenades in Diyala," 5/4/18

- "The martyrdom of an intelligence officer from Ghazaliya in explosion in Shula," 5/24/18

Goran, Baxtiyar, "Eight killed, 31 wounded in northern Baghdad suicide attack," Kurdistan 24, 5/16/18

Iraq Newspaper, "Dash Terrorists Assassinate A Village Mukhtar In Riyadh, Captures Fighters In Kirkuk And Killed Them In Khanaqin," 5/24/18

- "Foiled Two Attacks By Daesh Terrorists South Of Mosul," 5/26/18

- "A Suicide Bomber Kills An Explosive Expert In Dhuluiya And Detonation Of A Land Cruiser From The Popular Crowd In Samarra," 5/21/18

Al Maalomah, "The popular crowd repulsed a move by Daesh near Baiji," 5/29/18

Al Mada, "Tarmiya attackers killed 30 victims and disappeared before security forces arrived," 5/2/18

Mostafa, Nehal, "Iraqi pro-government troops repulse Islamic State attack in Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 5/7/18

- "Security personnel, 3 Islamic State members killed in repelled attack, south of Mosul," Iraqi News, 5/26/18

- "Six policemen killed, wounded in Islamic State attack, northwest of Diyala," Iraqi News, 5/3/18

- "Suicide attacker killed by security in Iraq's Samarra," Iraqi News, 5/9/18

- "Two Islamic State members killed as paramilitaries repulse attack in Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 5/3/18

NINA, "Daesh burned fields for the wheat northwest of Kirkuk," 5/24/18

- "The Security forces repulsed an attack to Daesh and kill a terrorist northwest of Mosul," 5/23/18

Rudaw, "8 killed in clashes between government forces and Daesh gunmen south of Mosul," 5/22/18

Shafaaq News, "Armed militants burn crops of farmers in Diyala," 5/26/18

- "The outbreak of a clash between Daesh and the crowd near Tuz Kharmato," 5/5/18

- "Pictures: 6 killed, including a suicide bomber in 3 minute clash near Khanaqin," 5/24/18

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

Sotaliraq, "One soldier was killed and another was wounded in a clash with Daesh northwest of Mosul," 5/26/18

Al Sumaria, "Daash attacking the Alas oil field and clashing with the security forces," 5/31/18

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