Security In Iraq Oct 1-14, 2019

(Baghdad Post)

The first two weeks of October showed that the Islamic State pays attention to political developments in Iraq. During the first week of the month protests erupted in Baghdad and across the south with the government gunning down scores of people. The insurgents almost halted their operations as a result. If the group’s goal is to overthrow the government, they were not going to act when the people were threatening it. Any large attack might have distracted people’s attention away from Baghdad. When protests ended, IS went right back to attacks in the second week of the month.

The first two weeks of October were a stark contrast. From October 1-7 there were only three incidents, one each in Anbar, Diyala and Ninewa. The next week there were 14 incidents as the militants went back to work after the protests ended. Diyala, as usual, had the most violence with 5 attacks.

Anbar remained an afterthought for IS, although there were two vehicle bombs there during the start of October. On October 2, a car bomb was discovered in the Hit district in the center of the province and destroyed by the security forces. Then on October 13 a vehicle bomb went off in the Rutba district, which is in the west heading towards Jordan. It was not very large as there were only three fatalities. The governorate used to be the heart of the insurgency, but this year there are hardly any incidents there as IS is concentrating upon central Iraq.

An IED was discovered in the Jurf al-Sakhr district in northeast Babil during the second week of October. A group of Hashd were attempting to disarm it when it went off, wounding 3. Whether this was an old or new explosive is unknown. Whenever there is an incident in the province however, it is almost always in this district, which is a Hashd base providing plenty of targets.

September saw the most attacks in Baghdad in eleven months. This represented the militants determined effort to infiltrate into the capital. Due to the protests there were no incidents however at the start of October. The militants likely did not want to draw attention to themselves when young people were hitting the street and calling for revolution as that unrest suited IS’s goal of undermining the government.

Central Iraq is where IS is most active. Ninewa and Salahaddin have been less important to the group. There were 3 incidents total in the former and 2 in the latter during the first two weeks of October. That included a policeman’s house being hit by an IED in the Makhmour district of Ninewa, and 2 suicide bombers being intercepted by the security forces in the Samarra district in Salahaddin who were reportedly targeting pilgrims during Arbaeen. In Kirkuk, there were 3 incidents total including a mukhtar being assassinated in the Daquq district in the south, and five farmers being executed in the west. Diyala had 6 attacks total. One of those incidents started when a sniper killed three civilians and wounded 4. When the Iraqi forces arrived to investigate, they were hit with an IED that killed 2 police and wounded 3 others. As usual, the majority of incidents, 4 of 6, were in the Jalawla-Khanaqin district in the northeast, which the insurgents have exploited since the federal forces took them over from the Kurds in the aftermath of the Kurdish independence referendum in 2017. The Los Angeles Times had an article on how the government was neglecting parts of Diyala. One village had been hit by mortars twice, and the Iraqi forces refused to do anything about it. That led the people to go to a Hashd brigade which said they would help. Politicians in Mandali, Edheim, and Abu Karma all warned of IS activity ranging from sniping at checkpoints, to moving back and forth across the border with Salahaddin, to night attacks, which was prompting people to discuss leaving the area. Attacks have wildly fluctuated in Ninewa, while there are hardly any in Salahaddin anymore. Kirkuk and Diyala usually has the most violence each month. There IS is challenging the government and security forces in the rural areas and largely winning. The authorities are few and far between in those areas giving the insurgents almost free reign. That has allowed them to drive people out of many villages and build new camps to rebuild. If that’s allowed to continue, it’s only a matter of time before the group starts moving back into the cities like it is doing now in Baghdad.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Oct 1-7	Oct 8-14
Anbar	1	1
Babil	-	1
Diyala	1	5
Kirkuk	-	3
Ninewa	1	2
Salahaddin	-	2
TOTAL	3	14

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Oct 1-7	Oct 8-14
Anbar	-	3 (3K)
Babil	-	3 (3W)
Baghdad	-	-
Diyala	1 (1W)	21 (10K, 11W)
Kirkuk	-	9 (6K, 3W)
Ninewa	2 (1K, 1W)	2 (2K)
Salahaddin	-	4 (4K)
TOTAL	3 (1K, 2W)	42 (25K, 17W)

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-19

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	15	8	2	4	-	1	-	1	-
Jul	7	12	2	4	-	-	2	-	-
Aug	21	12	3	7	-	1	1	1	-
Sep	18	18	2	5	-	-	3	-	-
Oct	2	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	133	92	23	46	1	2	24	2	-

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	5	10	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Jul	2	10	-	-	-	1	2	-	-
Aug	9	6	10	-	-	1	-	-	-
Sep	6	10	-	2	1	1	-	-	-
Oct	2	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	62	97	21	12	7	8	18	-	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	2	5	-	-	1	-	4 (4 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jul	2	2	-	-	1	1	2	-	-
Aug	3	2	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Sep	3	10	-	-	2	1	-	-	-
Oct	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	44	39	7	2	7	6	17	-	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)	-	-
Jun	4	3	2	-	1	-	-	-	-
Jul	3	6	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
Aug	5	1	1	-	-	1	1	-	1
Sep	6	3	4	1	-	-	-	-	-
Oct	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2019 Totals	45	46	22	4	2	6	8	1	4

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
Jul	2 (2 – Baghdad/Malif)	-	2
Aug	1 (1 – Diyala)	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	2
Sep	-	1 (1 – Karbala)	1
Oct	-	1 (1 – Anbar/Rutba)	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	94/31	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	130/128
Feb 1-7	29/28	76/16	30
Feb 8-14	24	26	18
Feb 15-21	40	112/37	12
Feb 22-28	25	36	70
FEB	118	250/115	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	20/19	15	18
May 8-14	24	31	41
May 15-21	37/36	62/25	39
May 22-28	43	39	54
May 29-31	13	16	48
MAY	137/136	163/125	200
Jun 1-7	26	19	44
Jun 8-14	25/24	29	15
Jun 15-21	21/16	6	13/10
Jun 22-28	18	17	41
Jun 29-30	9	3	9
JUN	99/93	74	122/119
Jul 1-7	20	11	39
Jul 8-14	14	31	10
Jul 15-21	17	14	37
Jul 22-28	23	14	20
Jul 29-31	8	13	13
JUL	82	83	119
Aug 1-7	27	14	31
Aug 8-14	18	13	13
Aug 15-21	20	33	15
Aug 22-28	27	24	72
Aug 29-31	11	19	10
AUG	104/103	103	141
Sep 1-7	39	39	38
Sep 8-14	30	35	43
Sep 15-21	23	27	26
Sep 22-28	24/23	15	20
Sep 29-30	7	6	4
SEP	123/119	122	131
Oct 1-7	3	1	2
Oct 8-14	14	25	17

Violence By Province Oct 1-7 & Oct 8-14, 2019

Province	Violence	Violence
Anbar	1 Incident 1 Car Bomb Destroyed	1 Incident 3 Killed 3 ISF 1 Car Bomb
Babil	-	1 Incident 3 Wounded 3 Hashd 1 IED
Diyala	1 Incident 1 Wounded 1 Hashd 1 Shooting	5 Incident 10 Killed 2 ISF 8 Civilians 11 Wounded 5 ISF 6 Civilians 1 Shooting 4 IEDs
Kirkuk	-	3 Incidents 6 Killed 6 Civilians 3 Wounded 3 ISF 2 Shootings 1 IED
Ninewa	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Civilian 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 IED	2 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Civilians 2 IEDs
Salahaddin	-	2 Incidents 4 Killed 4 Hashd 1 IED 2 Suicide Bombers Killed

SOURCES

Baghdad Post, "Death toll in Diyala blast rises to five," 10/14/19

- “A mobilization in one of the villages of Diyala and preparing for a new wave of displacement..Because of the growing activity of ISIS,” 10/16/19

Bas News, "Makhmour: IS Explodes House of Police Officer," 10/8/19

Al Bawaba, "Iraq Bomb Blast Kills 4 Hashd al-Shaabi Fighters," 10/15/19

Bulos, Nabih, Etehad, Melissa, “In Iraq and Syria, a new phase of the war against Islamic State begins,” Los Angeles Times, 10/7/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Two Iraqi soldiers wounded after bomb explosion in Diyala," Iraqi News, 10/9/19

NINA, "3 Members Of The Popular Mobilization Forces Injured While Defusing A Landmine North Of Babylon," 10/10/19

- "3 Security Personnel Injured By IED's Explosion South Of Kirkuk," 10/13/19

- "A farmer and his son are injured in an explosion in northeast of Baquba," 10/11/19

- "ISIS slaughters five buffalo breeders west of Kirkuk," 10/9/19

- "ISIS Terrorists Assassinate Mukhtar In Rashad Area, South Of Kirkuk," 10/11/19

- “Local Official In Diyala Adopts Night Sniper Binoculars To Target Security Forces In The Province,” 10/13/19

- “Local Official In Diyala Warns Of Turning Mtaibijah Basin Into ISIS Blocs,” 10/16/19

- "A Member Of PMF Injured By ISIS Sniper, Northeast Of Baquba," 10/1/19

- "Two civilians killed in an explosion south of Mosul," 10/12/19

Sotaliraq, "One civilian killed and another wounded in an explosion west of Mosul," 10/4/19

Al Sumaria, "Samarra operations kill two suicide bombers and foil a plot by "IS"," 10/14/19

- "Security forces detonate a controlled car bomb near Hit police station," 10/2/19

Xinhua, "5 killed, 7 wounded in IS attack in eastern Iraq," 10/10/19

- "Car bomb explosion kills 3 military personnel in western Iraq," 10/13/19