Security In Iraq Jun 15-21 2019

(Iraqi News)

Despite the Islamic State being in the third month of its spring-summer campaign Revenge of the Levant incidents have decreased every week of June. There were 26 the first week, 25 the second, and then 16 the third week. That could be because two of the main sources on violence in Iraq are offline so there were likely more incidents then were recorded this month.

There were 21 incidents total from June 15-21. Five of those were by pro-Iran groups attempting to send a message to the United States while it was in a dispute with Iran over its nuclear and foreign policies. That included rockets fired at the Baghdad military airport, the Taji base in Baghdad, the Ninewa Operations Command in Mosul, the Rumaila oil field in Basra, and the Burjesia oil company compound in Basra as well. Baghdad had the most incidents with 7 total during the week out of the seven provinces reporting violence.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jun 1-7	Jun 8-14	Jun 15-21
Anbar	8	1	1
Babil	1	-	2
Baghdad	3	4	7/5
Basra	-	-	0/2
Diyala	7	9	3
Kirkuk	3	5	-
Ninewa	4	2	3
Salahaddin	-	4	3
TOTALS	26	25	21/16

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jun 1-7	Jun 8-14	Jun 15-21
Anbar	7 (1K, 6W)	1 (1W)	-
Babil	-	-	2 (2W)
Baghdad	28 (9K, 19W)	1 (1K)	4 (4K)
Basra	-	-	3 (3W)
Diyala	9 (6K, 3W)	5 (2K, 3W)	4 (4W)
Kirkuk	10 (2K, 8W)	8 (5K, 3W)	-
Ninewa	9 (1K, 8W)	24 (20K, 4W)	2 (2W)
Salahaddin	-	5 (1K, 4W)	4 (2K, 2W)
TOTALS	63 (19K, 44W)	44 (29K, 15W)	19/16 (6K, 13/10W)

6 people were killed and 13 wounded during the week. That consisted of 2 Hashd al-Shaabi and 4 civilians losing their life along with 2 Hashd, 2 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 9 civilians being injured. 3 of the wounded were in Basra and not by the Islamic State. Baghdad, Diyala and Salahaddin all tied with 4 casualties each.

After a relative flurry of attacks, the first week of June there have only been one incident the second and one the third week of the month. On June 16 some IS fighters were caught attempting to infiltrate from Syria into the western section of the governorate. Despite the decline there have still been more security incidents in June compared to May.

There are only sporadic attacks in Babil. This week an IED hit police in the Jurf al-Sakhr district in the northeast and a mortar was fired at a village in the north. Usually when attacks happen in the governorate they are in Jurf which is a Hashd base providing a variety of targets for the insurgents. Hitting the northern town therefore was a bit of a variation in the militants’ past history.

The Islamic State is taking this offensive to slowly creep back into Baghdad. There were 10 incidents in the governorate in May. So far there have already been 12 in June. Almost all of these attacks are in the outer villages known as the Baghdad belt. There were five such attacks the third week of June and all were shootings. The most significant was an assassination attempt upon a parliamentarian in Latifiya in the outer south. If IS wants to challenge the government, maintain its standing and earn more money it has to return to the capital. June shows that it is slowly but surely attempting that.

Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salahaddin are the heart of the insurgency. There were no incidents in Kirkuk this week. In Diyala, there were 3 incidents, that included two suicide bombers being arrested in two separate incidents, and a successful suicide bombing in the Khanaqin district in the northeast. Khanaqin has been a favorite target of the insurgents since the central government took control of the area in 2017 from the Kurds. There are not enough security forces there and those that are come from different and often competing units allowing space for the militants to operate in. There were just two incidents in Ninewa. One was an old IED going off in Mosul which injured 2. At the end of the month, IS claimed it burned a field in Rabia, in the Sinjar district in the northwest. Finally an RPG rig was found on the Samarra-Baghdad highway, some IS fighters were caught trying to infiltrate into the Samarra district, and an IED went off on some Hashd in Tuz Kharmato. Many of these were the usual mix of intimidating local civilians and security forces in rural areas. The suicide bombing in Diyala was the first of its type in June and was another sign of the Revenge of the Levant campaign.

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-19

Anbar	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	45	67	13	4	6	5	7	3
Jan 2019	6	4	1	-	2	1	1	1
Feb	10	11	4	1	1	4	-	-
Mar	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	1	8	1	-	-	1	-	1
May	3	3	-	-	1	-	-	2
Jun	6	2	4	-	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	28	29	10	1	4	6	1	4

Diyala	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	219	198	47	43	5	13	25	3	1
Jan 2019	21	2	3	8	-	-	1	-	-
Feb	18	2	5	7	-	-	3	-	-
Mar	7	6	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	13	15	2	4	1	-	1	-	-
May	11	13	3	5	-	-	13 (9 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jun	10	6	1	2	-	1	-	1	-
2019 Totals	80	44	15	28	1	1	18	1	-

Kirkuk	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	172	182	39	18	10	14	29	9	6
Jan 2019	8	17	-	4	2	3	-	-	1
Feb	9	5	3	-	-	2	1	-	-
Mar	5	11	2	1	2	-	2	-	-
Apr	5	9	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
May	11	18	2	3	1	-	13 (13 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jun	3	5	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	41	65	11	9	5	5	16	-	1

Ninewa	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	139	74	43	7	5	6	6	2	3
Jan 2019	6	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	8	3	2	2	-	-	1	-	1
Mar	6	1	3	-	-	-	1	-	1
Apr	6	6	1	-	1	2	2	-	-
May	8	8	1	-	1	2	6 (5 Farms Burned)	-	1
Jun	1	4	-	-	-	-	4 (4 Farms Burned)	-	-
2019 Totals	35	22	7	2	3	4	14	-	3

Salahaddin	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	110	102	41	18	1	16	4	9	5
Jan 2019	5	5	3	1	-	3	-	-	1
Feb	7	11	3	-	-	2	1	1	-
Mar	3	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	1
Apr	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
May	10	9	4	1	1	-	6 (5 Farms Burned)	-	-
2019 Totals	27	32	13	2	1	5	7	1	3

(Gun Battles, Attacks on Checkpoints, Attacks on Mukhtars, Attacks on Towns are all subsets of the total number of shootings and IEDs/Sticky Bombs reported)

Suicide-Car Bombs In Iraq 2018-19

Month	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs	Totals
Jan	7 (1- Diyala, 3 – Baghdad/Baghdad, 3 - Kirkuk)	6 (1- Anbar, 1 – Diyala, 1 – Kirkuk, 1 – Salahaddin, 2 - Babil)	13
Feb	4 (1 – Anbar/Ramadi 1 – Diyala 1 – Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	-	4
Mar	2 (1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk 1 - Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Kirkuk)	3
Apr	4 (1 - Salahaddin 3 – Anbar)	1 (1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk)	5
May	8 (1 – Diyala 1 - Salahaddin) 2 – Baghdad/1 - Baghdad 4 - Kirkuk)	-	8
Jun		1 (1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	1
Jul	1 (1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	1 (1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk)	2
Aug	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	2 (1 – Anbar, 1 – Kirkuk)	3
Sep	6 (1 – Ninewa) 2 – Anbar 3 – Salahaddin)	2 (1 – Kirkuk 1 – Salahaddin)	8
Oct	2 (1 – Anbar/Fallujah 1 – Salahaddin)	3 (1 – Anbar/Fallujah 1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	5
Nov	-	3 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul 2 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	3
Dec	-	1 (1 – Ninewa)	1
Jan	1 (1 – Anbar)	3 (1 – Anbar 1 – Kirkuk 1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	4
Feb	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul)	2
Mar	-	1 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul)	1
Apr	-	2 (1 – Anbar 1 - Salahaddin)	2
May	1 (1 – Baghdad)	3 (2 – Anbar 1 – Ninewa)	4
Jun	1 (1 – Diyala)	-	1

Security In Iraq 2018-19

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	62/60	45	63
Jan 8-14	58/56	58/56	66/63
Jan 15-21	62/59	151	151
Jan 22-28	59/51	140/136	65/63
Jan 29-31	24	21	21
JAN 2018	265/ 250 by IS	417/ 409 by IS (196 Violent Deaths)	366/ 361 by IS
Feb 1-7	58/56	192/141	62/60
Feb 8-14	57	58	91
Feb 15-21	53/52	343	43
Feb 22-28	46/44	38/37	70/68
FEB	214/ 209 by IS	631/ 579 by IS (215 Violent Deaths)	266/ 262 by IS
Mar 1-7	68/64	115/108	79/77
Mar 8-14	52	75	59
Mar 15-21	64/59	165/119	98
Mar 22-28	77/64	210/87	61/60
Mar 29-31	19/18	26/25	34
MAR	280/ 257 by IS	591/ 414 by IS (446 Violent Deaths)	331/ 328 by IS
Apr 1-7	38/34	172/140	27/25
Apr 8-14	60/52	173/136	81/72
Apr 15-21	43/35	63/18	72/70
Apr 22-28	40/31	60/30	39/33
Apr 29-30	12/11	14/11	4
APR	193/ 163 by IS	482/ 335 by IS (236 Violent Deaths)	223/ 204 by IS
May 1-7	45/39	52/43	55/54
May 8-14	55/51	68/46	49
May 15-21	35/32	55/26	80/75
May 22-28	49/46	72/62	51/49
May 29-31	16/13	39/30	15
MAY	200/ 181 by IS	286/ 207 by IS (261 Violent Deaths)	250/ 242 by IS
Jun 1-7	50/44	96/87	29/28
Jun 8-14	67/59	107/47	88
Jun 15-21	40/35	82/28	19
Jun 22-28	45/44	53/38	62
Jun 29-30	17/15	21/16	14
JUN	219/ 197 by IS	359/ 216 by IS (315 Violent Deaths)	212/ 211 by IS
Jul 1-7	50/49	56/52	90
Jul 8-14	42/39	56/47	31
Jul 15-21	50/45	59/42	63
Jul 22-28	29/24	61/53	19/15
Jul 29-31	23/21	25/13	11
JUL	194/ 178 by IS	257/ 207 by IS (212 Violent Deaths)	214/ 210 by IS
Aug 1-7	43/39	49/45	30/29
Aug 8-14	43/42	38	44
Aug 15-21	38/35	24/21	40/37
Aug 22-28	35/31	25/19	61
Aug 29-31	27/24	68/30	43
AUG	186/ 171 by IS	204/ 153 by IS (189 Violent Deaths)	218/ 214 by IS
Sep 1-7	38	44	54
Sep 8-14	48/43	63/55	127
Sep 15-21	44/38	90/74	70
Sep 22-28	36/33	22/17	27/26
Sep 29-30	9/6	19/10	29/25
SEP	175/ 158 by IS	237/ 200 by IS (179 Violent Deaths)	307/ 302 by IS
Oct 1-7	54/49	85/25	92
Oct 8-14	43/41	161/152	41
Oct 15-21	54/50	87/72	35
Oct 22-28	24/23	24/20	53
Oct 29-31	23	10	24
OCT	198/ 186 by IS	367/ 279 by IS (177 Violent Deaths)	245 by IS
Nov 1-7	32/31	75/69	36
Nov 8-14	39/31	111/63	19
Nov 15-21	30/27	51/43	29
Nov 22-28	26/21	35/25	30
Nov 29-30	9/8	4	27
NOV	136/ 118 by IS	276/ 204 by IS (183 Violent Deaths_	141 by IS
Dec 1-7	22/15	21/8	11
Dec 8-14	22	15	22
Dec 15-21	23/21	23/16	17
Dec 22-28	30/28	24/18	37
Dec 29-31	15/14	225/220	4
DEC	112/ 100 by IS	308/ 277 by IS (96 Violent Deaths)	91 by IS
Jan 1-7	32/31	17/10	24
Jan 8-14	32/30	97/94	53
Jan 15-21	22/18	17/11	16/14
Jan 22-28	27/22	36/17	31
Jan 29-31	12	7	6
JAN	114	139	130
Feb 1-7	29/28	76	30
Feb 8-14	24	26	18
Feb 15-21	40	112	12
Feb 22-28	25	36	70
FEB	118	250	130
Mar 1-7	13	22	45
Mar 8-14	19/18	75/10	37
Mar 15-21	12/11	66/37	21/11
Mar 22-28	13/12	8/5	1
Mar 29-31	6	8	7
MAR	61	147	101
Apr 1-7	20	22	13
Apr 8-14	41	28	42
Apr 15-21	17/16	9/8	26
Apr 22-28	19/18	45/10	15
Apr 29-30	2	1	4
APR	99	105	100
May 1-7	18/17	9	17
May 8-14	24	31	41
May 15-21	37/36	62	39
May 22-28	43	39	54
May 29-31	13	16	48
MAY	136/135	162	199
Jun 1-7	26	19	44
Jun 8-14	25	29/10	15
Jun 15-21	21/16	6	13/10

Violence By Province Jun 15-21, 2019

Province	Violence
Anbar	1 Incident 1 Shooting
Babil	2 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 ISF 1 IED 1 Mortar
Baghdad	7/5 Incidents 4 Killed 4 Civilians 5 Shootings 2 Rockets
Basra	2 Incidents 3 Wounded 3 Civilians 2 Rockets
Diyala	3 Incidents 4 Wounded 4 Civilians 1 Suicide Bomber 2 Suicide Bombers Arrested
Ninewa	3 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 1 IED 1 Rocket 1 Field Burned
Salahaddin	3 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Hashd 2 Wounded 2 Hashd 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Rocket

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, “US interests come under repeated fire in Iraq: officials,” 6/19/19

AIN, "Dead and wounding four from the crowd, including a regiment commander in Salahaddin," 6/21/19

Baghdad Post, "Two people were injured when an explosive device exploded in the old city of Mosul," 6/19/19

Bas News, "Khanaqin: Suicide Bombing Wounds Four," 6/20/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Iraqi security arrest IS terrorist with explosive belt in Diyala," Iraqi News, 6/16/19

- "Iraqi Shiite militias foil Islamic State plot to infiltrate into Salahaddin," Iraqi News, 6/16/19

Al Ghad Press, "The popular crowd fills a failed infiltration attempt in Anbar," 6/16/19

Al Mada, "The arrest of a suicide bomber in Diyala and the targeting of a gather in Ninewa," 6/18/19

Reuters, "Rocket hits site of foreign oil firms in Iraq's Basra, two hurt," 6/18/19

Rudaw, "ISIS claims responsibility for fires on Syria-Iraq border," 6/21/19

Shafaaq News, "Three Katyusha rockets hit Taji camp," 6/17/19

Al Sumaria, "Office: The survival of MP Mohammed Ali Zinni from an assassination attempt," 6/21/19

- "A rocket-propelled grenade was position on the highway between Baghdad and Samarra," 6/15/19