Security In Iraq, May 1-7, 2020

(Shafaaq News)

The first week of May saw another jump in violence in Iraq. April had 111 security incidents reported with 109 likely by the Islamic State. That was the most since December 2019. The start of May had 44 incidents, 1 by a pro-Iran group. That was the highest count of any week this year. That number hadn’t been seen since the fourth week of May 2019. This is significant because it’s the only time insurgent attacks have carried over into a second month since January and February 2019.

As usual, Diyala saw the most incidents with 15, followed by 9 in Kirkuk, 6 each in Ninewa and Salahaddin, 4 in Anbar, 2 in Baghdad, and 1 in Babil. Irbil was struck again as well, which has been a new target since the start of the year.

There was a total of 83 casualties, the most since the third week of May in 2019. 2 civilians, 19 Hashd al-Shaabi and 26 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were killed and 7 civilians, 9 Hashd and 20 ISF were wounded. Like April more members of the security forces died and were injured than civilians, which marked a new trend of IS going after military targets. Diyala alone had more than half of the casualties with 47.

Anbar remains more a transit point between Iraq and Syria rather than a front in the insurgency. There were four incidents there during the week, but three of those either came from a security sweep or a car bomb being discovered. The fourth was an infiltration attempt in Nukhaib in the south that was discovered and turned back by the security forces. IS appears to be using Anbar was a way to move in men and material from neighboring Syria for the last several months to rebuild its forces in Iraq rather than a combat area.

A group of IS fighters infiltrated into the Jurf al-Sakhr of northeast Babil and wounded a Hashd. That’s what the insurgents have been doing for the last two years plus because the district is a Hashd base and offers plenty of targets of opportunity.

There were two incidents in Baghdad. One was a pro-Iran group firing rockets at Baghdad International Airport. The other was a sticky bomb in Yusifiya in the south that wounded a member of the ISF. Since the start of last year IS was steadily making a return to the capital city. Last month however it gave up on that effort to solidify its control of central and northern Iraq. That continued into May.

Diyala is the main base for the Islamic State. It has access to all the rural areas of the governorate. It had the most incidents and the most casualties once again. That included an attack upon a police station in Abbara in the center, an assault upon a village in the Jalawla district in the northeast, a field set on fire in the Baquba district in the southwest, and three checkpoints attacked. Of the 47 casualties, 41 were from the ISF and Hashd highlighting the security forces being targeted. There are constant security sweeps in Diyala by the government. These are large operations which are easily detected beforehand allowing the militants to move out of the way and return once they are done. That has allowed IS to rebuild and expand there with little real resistance from the authorities.

Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salahaddin remain secondary fronts where attacks often go up and down. In Kirkuk there were 9 incidents. Four electricity towards were blown up in two separate attacks, along with four checkpoints being hit. All of these occurred in the south where IS was never evicted from. All 9 of the casualties were members of the security forces. There were 6 incidents in Ninewa which witnessed 3 more power towers being taken down and two police killed at a checkpoint. 7 of the 10 casualties were police and soldiers. Finally, Salahaddin saw 6 attacks and all 15 casualties were from the Hashd. There were four gun battles with the security forces. The deadliest event took place in Mekeeshfa in the Samarra district when a Hashd unit was attacked and then an IED hit the reinforcements responding to the event. IS has picked up its operations in these three provinces in their recent surge. Again they have mainly gone after the security forces to ensure their control of rural areas. Southern Kirkuk, western and southern Ninewa, and eastern Salahaddin all contain militant bases. They have not always been used however as IS is still focusing upon rebuilding its cadre.

Last, Irbil was hit again in May. a field was burned in Qaraj. Since the start of 2020 IS has been hitting Irbil at least once a month probably feeling out Kurdish security and testing new areas. The return of attacks upon farms is meant to drive people out of rural areas as well as force people to pay taxes to the group.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	May 1-7
Anbar	4
Babil	1
Baghdad	2/1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	15
Irbil	1
Kirkuk	9
Ninewa	6
Salahaddin	6
TOTAL	44/1 Pro-Iran

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	May 1-7
Anbar	-
Babil	1 (1W)
Diyala	47 (22K, 25W)
Irbil	-
Kirkuk	9 (8K, 1W)
Ninewa	10 (6K, 4W)
Salahaddin	15 (11K, 4W)
TOTAL	83 (47K, 36W)

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-20

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
2019 Totals	185	112	33	63	2	6	29	2	-
Jan 2020	13	6	-	2	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	16	5	2	8	-	1	-	-	-
Mar	15	10	4	2	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	20	17	4	2	-	-	-	-	-
May	10	5	3	2	-	-	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
2019 Totals	77	116	24	19	6	8	18	-	1
Jan 2020	10	1	2	2	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	5	-	2	1	-	2	1	-	-
Mar	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	17	7	6	3	-	2	1	1	-
May	5	6	-	4	-	-	-	-	-

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
2019 Totals	63	49	14	3	9	6	17	-	3
Jan 2020	7	5	2	1	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	5	5	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Mar	2	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	8	8	1	4	-	1	1	-	-
May	3	5	-	1	-	-	-	-	-

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
2019 Totals	60	54	32	5	2	6	8	2	6
Jan 2020	4	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	5	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
Mar	5	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	4	3	3	-	-	1	-	-	-
May	6	1	5	-	-	-	-	-	-

Security In Iraq 2019-20

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	32	17/10	24
Jan 8-14	32	94/31	53
Jan 15-21	22	17/11	16/14
Jan 22-28	27	36/17	31
Jan 29-31	12	7	6
JAN 2019	114	139	130/128
Feb 1-7	29/1	76/16	30
Feb 8-14	24	26	18
Feb 15-21	40	112/37	12
Feb 22-28	25	36	70
FEB	118/1	250/115	130
Mar 1-7	13	22	45
Mar 8-14	19	75/10	37
Mar 15-21	12	66/37	21/11
Mar 22-28	13	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	9/8	26
Apr 22-28	19	45	15
Apr 29-30	2	1	4
APR	99	105	100
May 1-7	20	15	18
May 8-14	24	31	41
May 15-21	37/1	62/25	39
May 22-28	43	39	54
May 29-31	13	16	48
MAY	137/1	163/125	200
Jun 1-7	26	19	44
Jun 8-14	25/1	29	15
Jun 15-21	21/2	6	13/10
Jun 22-28	18	17	41
Jun 29-30	9	3	9
JUN	99/3	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	141
Sep 1-7	39	39	38
Sep 8-14	30	35	43
Sep 15-21	23	27	26
Sep 22-28	24/1	15	20
Sep 29-30	7	6	4
SEP	123/1	122	131
Oct 1-7	3	1	2
Oct 8-14	14	25	17
Oct 15-21	19	29	13
Oct 22-28	22/1	33	10
Oct 29-31	12/1	4	11
Oct	70/2	92	53
Nov 1-7	6/1	4	1
Nov 8-14	9/1	2	25
Nov 15-21	15/1	11	2
Nov 22-28	17/1	24	33
Nov 29-30	8/1	6	37
Nov	55/5	47	98
Dec 1-7	36/3	33	44
Dec 8-14	19/3	19	19
Dec 15-21	26	44	25
Dec 22-28	30/1	30	38
Dec 29-31	9	8	7
Dec	120/7	134	133
Jan 1-7	25/7	16	84
Jan 8-14	24/3	12	34
Jan 15-21	23/2	11	12
Jan 22-28	11/1	10	8
Jan 29-31	8/1	4	1
Jan 2020	91/12	53	139
Feb 1-7	22	13	11
Feb 8-14	18/1	5	38
Feb 15-21	16/2	42	18
Feb 22-28	25	15	34
Feb 29	4	5	2
Feb	85/3	80	103
Mar 1-7	17/3	11	17
Mar 8-14	15/2	13	33
Mar 15-21	14/2	5	19
Mar 22-28	14/1	13	11
Mar 29-31	9	5	10
Mar	69/8	47	90
Ap 1-7	27/1	27	37
Apr 8-14	24	25	51
Apr 15-21	33/1	19	34
Apr 22-28	22	8	40
Apr 29-30	5	2	4
Apr	111/2	81	165
May 1-7	44/1	47	36

Violence By Province May 1-7 2020

Province	Violence
Anbar	4 Incidents 1 Shooting 4 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Babil	1 Incident 1 Wounded 1 Hashd 1 Shooting
Baghdad	2/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 1 Wounded 1 ISF 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Rockets
Diyala	15 Incidents 22 Killed 1 Civilian 4 Hashd 17 ISF 25 Wounded 4 Hashd 5 Civilians 16 ISG 10 Shootings 5 IEDs 1 Rockets
Irbil	1 Incident
Kirkuk	9 Incidents 8 Killed 4 Hashd 4 Civilians 1 Wounded 1 ISF 5 Shootings 6 IEDs 1 Grenade
Ninewa	6 Incidents 6 Killed 1 Civilian 5 ISF 4 Wounded 2 Civilians 2 ISF 3 Shootings 5 IEDs
Salahaddin	6 Incidents 11 Killed 11 Hashd 4 Wounded 4 Hashd 6 Shootings 1 IED

SOURCES

Aldroubi, Mina, "Three rockets strike near Iraq's Baghdad airport," The National, 5/6/20

Ali, Mohammed, "ISIS burns agricultural crops of Kurdish farmers in the Qaraj plain," Rudaw, 5/5/20

Asharq Al-Awsat, "ISIS Kills 10 PMF Fighters in Coordinated Attack in Iraq," 5/2/20

Baghdad Post, "Targeting a Turkmen politician's house with a hand grenade in Kirkuk," 5/6/20

Bas News, "Diyala: Two Policemen Injured in IS Attack," 5/1/20

- "Fresh IS Attack Kills 7 Iraqi Forces, Injures 8," 5/3/20

- "IS Detonate Three Power Towers, Leaves Parts of Kirkuk Without Electricity," 5/4/20

- "IS Kills, Injures 6 Iraqi Policemen, Tribal Forces in Diyala," 5/4/20

Dri, Karwan Faidhi, "Multiple casualties in ISIS attack on Iraqi PMF forces in Samarra," 5/2/20

Iraq Newspaper, "The battle continues, ISIS terrorist attacks the popular crowd in Diyala, while admitting to it on American Twitter," 5/3/20

Kittleson, Shelly, "Islamic State ramps up attacks in Iraq during Ramadan," Al Monitor, 5/4/20

Al Maalomah, "The popular crowd thwarts a new exposure by ISIS, east of Salahaddin," 5/2/20

- "The popular crowd thwarts the infiltration of ISIS in Samarra," 5/6/20

- "A soldier was martyred by ISIS sniper fire, northeast Diyala," 5/3/20

- "Soldiers were martyred and wounded in an explosion of 4 explosive devices in Al-Azim district, Diyala," 5/2/20

- "Thwarting an attempt to detonate a car bomb in western Anbar ambush," 5/1/20

NINA, "2 Employees Of Ministry Of Electricity Wounded While Heading To Work," 5/7/20

- "3 Soldiers Killed And Wounded In A Roadside Bomb In Southern Mosul," 5/7/20

- "4 Members Of The PMF Killed In An Attack by ISIS In Southern Kirkuk," 5/5/20

- "The army forces thwart an attack by ISIS on security points in Diyala," 5/7/20

- "A civilian killed in an armed attack north of Mosul," 5/3/20

- "ISIS Detonate 3 Electricity Towers, South Of Mosul," 5/7/20

- "ISIS Kill Two Policemen In Mosul," 5/5/20

- "ISIS Kills 2 Soldiers, Southeast Mosul," 5/5/20

- "ISIS set fire to wheat fields in northern Baquba," 5/5/20

- "ISIS targets the thermal camera of the tribal crowd west of Kirkuk," 5/4/20

- "An Officer And 2 Security Policemen Injured In An IED Explosion, Northeast Of Baquba,' 5/4/20

- "One of the electricity towers in Kirkuk was subjected to sabotage," 5/7/20

- "The PMF Repels A New ISIS Attack East Of Salah al-Din," 5/3/20

- "A policeman killed by a sniper from ISIS in Diyala," 5/7/20

- "Security Media Cell: 10 Fighters Of PMF Killed And Others Wounded In ISIS Attack In Samarra Last Night," 5/2/20

- "Two soldiers were killed by ISIS elements in western Kirkuk," 5/5/20

- "Unidentified Gunmen Assassinate A Policeman In Abu Saida District In Diyala," 5/1/20

Rudaw, "A new attack by ISIS militants on the popular crowd in Jurf al-Nasr," 5/3/20

Shafaaq News, "Details of ISIS attack on Um Karami in Diyala," 5/3/20

- "ISIS attack leaves 5 victims among the Iraqi forces in Diyala," 5/4/20

- "Two Iraqi soldiers were killed by a sniper in Kirkuk," 5/4/20

- "Two ISIS attacks leave 5 victims of security personnel in Diyala," 5/2/20

Sherwani, Halgurd, "Iraq's central provinces witness another series of ISIS attacks," Kurdistan 24, 5/5/20

- "ISIS targets security forces in central Iraq for the second day in a row," Kurdistan 24, 5/3/20

Sotaliraq, "Two ISIS suicide bombers were killed after being trapped inside a western Anbar mosque," 5/5/20

Al Sumaria, "An ISIS armed attack in Shirqat was thwarted," 5/4/20

- "A security element was wounded by an explosive device, south of Baghdad,' 5/6/20

- "Three terrorists were killed who tried to attack a security point in Hawija," 5/4/20

Xinhua, "11 paramilitary tribal fighter killed in IS attack in Iraq," 5/2/20

- "Iraqi forces kill 2 suicide bombers in western Iraq," 5/7/20