Security In Iraq Nov 15-21, 2020

Violence across Iraq continues to fluctuate. There were 11 security incidents reported in the media the first week of November increasing to 25 the next week and then down to 19 the third week. One of those was by a pro-Iran Hashd group leaving 18 by the Islamic State. This has been the pace of attacks for weeks now.

 

Ashab al-Kahf that is likely a Kataib Hezbollah front group took responsibility for a rocket attack upon the Green Zone. Several fell short killing one child and wounding five others in Baghdad. This was in retaliation for three members being arrested. The group threatened more attacks if they were not released. The last time a pro-Iran group carried out an operation was on October 24 in Basra and the last time Baghdad was hit was October 5.

 

The Islamic State’s incidents were spread across Anbar (1), Babil (1), Baghdad (2), Diyala (3), Kirkuk (3), Ninewa (4) and Salahaddin (4).

 

In total 18 were killed and 25 were wounded during the week. 4 Iraqi Security Force (ISF) members, 5 Hashd al-Shaabi and 9 civilians died and 5 civilians, 8 Hashd and 12 ISF were injured. Salahaddin had half the casualties with 22.

 

In the Garma district a policeman was killed inside his house during a home invasion and his car was burned. Attacks in Anbar remain very low. IS mostly brings men and material over from Syria into the province.

 

Besides the rocket attack there was a sticky bomb in Madain in the south and a shooting in Husseiniya in the north of the capital province that left two dead total. This is the kind of activity the insurgents are now carrying out in Baghdad. There is no longer an attempt to infiltrate into the city. Rather they are carrying out small scale attacks in the periphery usually northern and southern towns like where these two incidents took place.

 

Diyala saw only 3 incidents which included an attack upon village, a shooting at a checkpoint and an intercepted infiltration attempt. Two of these came in the north while one was in Muqdadiya in the center. Most attacks take place in the middle and northeast of the governorate but lately IS has been reaching out to the north. The security forces also made a deployment to the Abu Said district in Muqdadiya. This wasn’t in response to the militants however but rather a tribal dispute. This is one of the areas that regularly gets attacked but it took two tribes fighting each other to get the government to move into the area.

 

Kirkuk had three incidents as well. That involved an IS member killed while planting a bomb and assaults upon two checkpoints.

 

The Islamic State blew up two electricity towers in Ninewa. This is the first time in a while that any infrastructure has been attacked. The other three incidents were small scale and included three suicide bombers being arrested.

 

Salahaddin witnessed the most serious incident of the week. An IED hit a civilian car and when the security forces arrived to investigate they were ambushed. 10 people died including a police director and mayor while 8 police were wounded. IS has recently been targeting ISF officers since the spring and this was the latest example.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Nov 1-7	Nov 8-14	Nov 15-21
Anbar	1	3	1
Babil	1	1	1
Baghdad	-	2	3/1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	5	8	3
Kirkuk	1	5	3
Ninewa	3	2	4
Salahaddin	-	4	4
TOTAL	11	25	19/ 1 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Nov 1-7	Nov 8-14	Nov 15-21
Anbar	1 (1K)	4 (1K, 3W)	1 (1K)
Babil	2 (2W)	1 (1K)	2 (1K, 1W)
Baghdad	-	20 (11K, 9W)	8 (3K, 8W)
Diyala	10 (4K, 6W)	13 (4K, 9W)	7 (7W)
Kirkuk	1 (1K)	16 (5K, 11W)	1 (1K)
Ninewa	3 (1K, 2W)	3 (3W)	2 (2K)
Salahaddin	-	5 (1K, 4W)	22 (10K, 12W)
TOTAL	17 (7K, 10W)	62 (23K, 39W)	43 (18K, 25W)

 

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	38	18	8	9	1	5	17	-	-
Jun	13	1	-	2	-	1	2	-	-
Jul	10	10	1	2	-	-	2	-	-
Aug	16	5	2	7	-	3	3	-	-
Sep	21	8	2	3	-	-	6	-	-
Oct	17	11	1	2	2	1	2	-	-
Nov	10	6	-	3	-	-	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
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	15	10	1	7	1	4	10	-	-
Jun	5	2	1	1	-	1	1	-	-
Aug	5	5	1	-	-	-	3	-	-
Sep	9	5	2	2	-	2	2	3	-
Oct	8	7	1	1	-	-	3	-	-
Nov	6	1	1	3	-	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
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	5	9	-	2	-	-	2	-	-
Jun	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jul	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Aug	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sep	5	7	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oct	4	5	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Nov	3	4	-	1	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	21	6	9	5	-	2	2	-	-
Jun	5	4	1	2	-	-	1	-	-
Jul	4	5	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
Aug	6	3	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
Sep	6	10	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
Oct	6	3	3	-	-	-	1	-	-
Nov	7	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-

           

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
May 8-14	49	21	47
May 15-21	66/1	45	64
May 22-28	30	9	21
May 29-31	7	3	12
MAY	196/2	125	180
Jun 1-7	17	13	19
Jun 8-14	16/4	10	15
Jun 15-21	16/3	11	19
Jun 22-28	10/1	8	13
Jun 29-30	1	4	2
JUN	60/8	46	68
Jul 1-7	12/2	3	9
Jul 8-14	16/2	15	15
Jul 15-21	19/1	17	28
Jul 22-28	13/5	9	8
Jul 29-31	13/2	3	7
JUL	73/12	47	67
Aug 1-7	10/4	7	10
Aug 8-14	19/8	7	22
Aug 15-21	14/5	13	20
Aug 22-28	32/3	23	41
Aug 29-31	13/3	4	12
AUG	88/24	54	105
Sep 1-7	19/4	13	26
Sep 8-14	27/6	8	29
Sep 15-21	32/10	12	14
Sep 22-28	28/7	19	11
Sep 29-30	6/3	1	6
SEP	113/31	53	86
Oct 1-7	19/5	9	12
Oct 8-14	14/1	8	10
Oct 15-21	30/1	25	26
Oct 22-28	25/1	16	24
Oct 29-31	5	4	5
OCT	93/8	62	77
Nov 1-7	11	7	10
Nov 8-14	25	23	39
Nov 15-21	19/1	18	25

 

Violence By Province Nov 15-21, 2020

Province	Violence
Anbar	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 ISF   1 Shooting
Babil	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Hashd 1 Wounded 1 Hashd   1 Shooting
Baghdad	3/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 3 Killed 3 Civilians 5 Wounded 5 Civilians   1 Shooting 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Rockets
Diyala	3 Incidents 7 Wounded 7 Hashd   3 Shootings
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 1 Killed 1 ISF   2 Shootings
Ninewa	4 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Civilians   1 Shooting 3 IEDs 3 Suicide Bombers Arrested
Salahaddin	4 Incidents 10 Killed 2 ISF 4 Civilians 4 Hashd 12 Wounded 12 ISF   3 Shootings 2 IEDs

 

SOURCES

 

Agence France Presse, "Iraq province in mourning after ISIS attack killed 10 including civilians," 11/22/20

 

AIN, "Electricity Ministry announces targeting the Mosul-Qayara dam line with a sabotage attack," 11/21/20

- "With the participation of security forces and the people … foiling an ISIS attack on the home of an Iraqi official," 11/21/20

 

Bas News, "IS Kills Iraqi Policeman in Daquq," 11/18/20

- "Kirkuk: IS Militant Killed while Planting a Bomb," 11/15/20

- "Salahaddin: Over Ten Policemen Killed, Injured in IS Ambush," 11/21/20

 

Al Maalomah, "4 members of the Popular Mobilization Forces were wounded thwarting a terrorist attack in Al-Mitha, Diyala," 11/15/20

- "A Hashd fighter was killed, and another was wounded by an ISIS attack in Jurf al-Nasr," 11/16/20

- "A rapid reaction force coming from Baghdad is deployed in Abu Saida, Diyala to enforce the law," 11/15/20

 

Al Monitor, "Rockets fall in Baghdad after Pentagon announces Iraq troop reduction," 11/18/20

 

NINA, "3 Members Of The PMF Wounded In An ISIS Attack On A Village North of Baquba," 11/15/20

- "A Civilian Killed By An IED South Of Mosul," 11/19/20

- "The Popular Mobilization Forces and the army carried out a search operation in search of wanted men, east of Fallujah," 11/22/20

- "The Popular Mobilization Forces thwarted an ISIS attack against one of its points in Kirkuk," 11/19/20

- "Thwarting an infiltration attempt by ISIS to target a security center on the outskirts of Al-Abara district, northeast of Baqubah," 11/16/20

- "A young man was killed in an armed attack in Mosul," 11/21/20

 

NRT, “Rockets Fall Inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, Child Killed: Military,” 11/18/20

- "Three ISIS Suicide Bombers Arrested In Nineveh," 11/17/20

 

Reuters, "Nine Iraqi security personnel, civilians dead in ISIS ambush in Baghdad: Police," 11/21/20

 

Shafaaq News, "4 wounded in an explosion on an army patrol in Salahaddin," 11/18/20

- "Anbar … Unidentified people assassinate a police affiliate," 11/18/20

- "A bomb kills a car driver and another destroys the garden of a house south of Baghdad," 11/115/20

- "Gunmen respond with silent weapons north of Baghdad," 11/18/20

- "The popular crowd responds to an ISIS attack in northern Diyala," 11/15/20

 

Al Sumaria, "Thwarting an infiltration of ISIS on the island of Siniya," 11/20/20