Security In Iraq Dec 22-28, 2021

Pro-Iran groups are back to daily attacks upon American targets in Iraq. On the other hand, the Islamic State is in its usual winter hibernation but is targeting the security forces in its few attacks.

 

There were a total of 18 security incidents reported in Iraq from December 22-28. That was down from 22 the week before, but higher than the second week of December when there were 14 and 17 the first week.

 

There were 8 attacks by pro-Iran groups during the week. Convoys working for the U.S. were hit by IEDs in Anbar, Babil, Baghdad twice, Diwaniya twice, and Salahaddin. Rockets were also fired at a Turkish military base in Ninewa. Incidents by these factions has gone up nearly every week of December. The first week there were 2 attacks, followed by 4 the second week, 8 the third week and 8 the fourth. There have been a total of 20 attacks in December, the most since 28 in August. They are also expanding outside of their usual areas of southern Iraq and Baghdad into Anbar and Salahaddin. These groups also believe that Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq is another occupation of the country which needs to end.

 

There were just 10 incidents by the Islamic State. Those were in Diyala (4), Kirkuk (2), Ninewa (2), and Salahaddin (2). Attacks by the insurgents have been in the tens and teens since the middle of September.

 

Those resulted in 11 killed and 27 wounded. 2 civilians, 2 Hashd al-Shaabi and 7 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) died and 2 civilians, 4 Hashd and 21 ISF were injured. Diyala had the most casualties with 23 followed by 13 in Salahaddin.

 

Despite the law level of activity by IS it is going after the security forces once again. In Diyala two IEDs left one soldier dead and 14 wounded. A security operation in the Hamrin Mountains in the northeast led to a confrontation that resulted in 3 dead soldiers and 3 more injured. Likewise in Salahaddin there was a clash during a sweep that resulted in the deaths of 2 Hashd and 4 more wounded. An attack upon a checkpoint with an ambush for the reinforcements that arrived resulted in 7 police casualties. Of the 11 killed during the week 9 were from the security forces and 25 of the 27 wounded were ISF and Hashd.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7	Dec 8-14	Dec 15-21	Dec 22-28
Anbar	-	-	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Babil	-	3/2 Pro-Iran	3/2 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Baghdad	-	-	-	2 Pro-Iran
Basra	1 Pro-Iran	-	1 Pro-Iran	-
Dhi Qar	-	1 Pro-Iran		-
Diwaniya	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran	3 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran
Diyala	6	4	7	4
Irbil	2	-	3	-
Kirkuk	5	2	-	2
Ninewa	1	2	1	3/1 Pro-Iran
Salahaddin	1	1	2	3/1 Pro-Iran
TOTAL	17/2 Pro-Iran	14/4 Pro-Iran	22/8 Pro-Iran	18/8 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7	Dec 8-14	Dec 15-21	Dec 22-28
Babil	-	1 (1K)	1 (1W)	-
Basra	8 (4K, 4W)	-	-	-
Diyala	4 (2K, 2W)	1 (1K)	14 (7K, 7W)	23 (5K, 18W)
Irbil	18 (13K, 5W)	-	1 (1W)	-
Kirkuk	17 (9K, 8W)	2 (2W)	-	1 (1K)
Ninewa	1 (1W)	3 (1K, 2W)	1 (1W)	1 (1W)
Salahaddin	3 (1K, 2W)	3 (1K, 2W)	6 (4K, 2W)	13 (5K, 8W)
TOTAL	51 (29K, 22W)	10 (4K, 6W)	23 (11K, 12W)	38 (11K, 27W)

 

	October Totals – 5 (1)
11/7/21	Drone Strike – PM Kazemi’s residence – 6 Wounded
	Rockets – Turkish military base, Bashiqa, Ninewa
11/9/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Diwaniya
11/16/21	IED dismantled – Babil
	Rockets – Turkish military base, Bavian, Ninewa
11/19/21	Rockets dismantled Ninewa
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
11/22/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
11/25/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Basra
11/28/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya, Muthanna
11/30/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
	November Totals – 10 (2) – 6 Wounded
12/5/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
12/7/21	Motorcycle Bomb ISF – 4 killed, 4 Wounded
12/9/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
12/12/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Dhi Qar, Diwaniya
12/16/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, IED dismantled - Babil
12/18/21	IED dismantled - Babil
12/19/21	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Anbar
12/21/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Basra, Diwaniya
12/22/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
12/23/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Salahaddin
12/26/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad, Diwaniya
12/27/21	Rockets – Turkish army base, Ninewa
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
12/28/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Anbar
	December Totals 20 (2) – 4 Killed, 4 Wounded

 

Security In Iraq 2021

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	21/2	13	19
Jan 8-14	17/3	12	6
Jan 15-21	20/3	52	133
Jan 22-28	10/3	13	12
Jan 29-31	9/1	2	6
JAN	77/13	92	176
Feb 1-7	19/2	11	23
Feb 8-14	11/3	4	8
Feb 15-21	20/7	11	23
Feb 22-28	13/4	13	23
FEB	63/16	39	77
Mar 1-7	19/5	5	8
Mar 8-14	12/2	13	15
Mar 15-21	24/6	8	7
Mar 22-28	14/2	8	13
Mar 29-31	9/5	2	1
MAR	79/20	39	44
Apr 1-7	16/10	3	5
Apr 8-14	15/6	6	18
Apr 15-21	32/4	19	44
Apr 22-28	31/6	15	42
Apr 29-30	12/1	11	23
APR	107/27	54	132
May 1-7	36/8	33	37
May 8-14	31/5	14	25
May 15-21	15/2	3	3
May 22-28	20/9	3	24
May 29-31	11	6	11
MAY	113/24	59	100
Jun 1-7	12/5	6	29
Jun 8-14	22/10	7	7
Jun 15-21	24/4	14	14
Jun 22-28	19/2	10	17
Jun 29-30	5	-	21
JUN	83/21	36	87
Jul 1-7	38/9	11	35
Jul 8-14	25/4	7	17
Jul 15-21	20/1	48	75
Jul 22-28	10/1	10	7
Jul 29-31	16/5	30	30
JUL	110/20	106	164
Aug 1-7	44/5	12	19
Aug 8-14	31/6	17	23
Aug 15-21	25/8	12	18
Aug 22-28	21/9	8	10
Aug 29-31	12/2	5	12
AUG	133/30	54	82
Sep 1-7	21/3	12	24
Sep 8-14	28/3	24	36
Sep 15-21	13/1	5	17
Sep 22-28	17/4	13	9
Sep 29-30	2	-	-
SEP	81/11	54	86
Oct 1-7	17	11	22
Oct 8-14	14/1	4	13
Oct 15-21	9/2	3	2
Oct 22-28	21/1/1	36	42
Oct 29-31	11/1	7	7
OCT	72/6/1	61	86
Nov 1-7	20/2	3	20
Nov 8-14	15/1	11	18
Nov 15-21	14/4	2	4
Nov 22-28	15/4	10	14
Nov 29-30	3/1	1	3
NOV	67/12	27	59
Dec 1-7	17/2	29	22
Dec 8-14	14/4	4	6
Dec 15-21	22/8	11	12
Dec 22-28	18/8	11	27

 

Violence By Province Dec 22-28, 2021

Province	Violence	2018 Avg	2019 Avg	2020 Avg	2021 Avg
Anbar	1 Pro-Iran   1 IED	12.6 incidents/ month	8.6 incidents/ month	7.0 incidents/ month	5.0 incidents/ month
Babil	1 Pro-Iran   1 IED	4.0 incidents/month	3.0 incidents/month	2.75 incidents/month	2.6 incidents/month
Baghdad	2 Pro-Iran   2 IEDs	33.0 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	7.3 incidents/month	6.1 incidents/ month
Diwaniya	2 Pro-Iran Incidents   2 IEDs
Diyala	4 Incidents 5 Killed 1 Civilian 4 ISF 18 Wounded 1 Civilian 17 ISF   2 Shootings 2 IEDs	34.5 incidents/month	30.0 incidents/month	30.6 incidents/month	22.4 incidents/month
Kirkuk	2 Incidents 1 Killed 1 Civilian   1 Shooting	36.5 incidents/month	18.6 incidents/month	13.9 incidents/month	11.9 incidents/month
Ninewa	3/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 1 Wounded 1 Civilian   1 IED 2 Rockets	20.0 incidents/month	14.0 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	8.6 incidents/month
Salahaddin	3/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 5 Killed 2 Hashd 3 ISF 8 Wounded 4 Hashd 4 ISF   2 Shootings 1 IED	21.7 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	11.2 incidents/month	12 incidents/month

 

SOURCES

 

NINA, "The Assassination of a teacher south of the city of Kirkuk," 12/23/21

- "A convoy of logistical support for the international coalition forces targeted with an explosive device in Diwaniyah," 12/27/21

- "A convoy of logistical support for the international coalition forces was targeted with an explosive device, south of Salah al-Din," 12/23/21

- "A Convoy Of Logistical Support For The Int'l Coalition Forces Targeted In Babylon," 12/23/21

- "A Convoy Of Logistical Support For The Int'l Coalition Targeted With An IED In Anbar," 12/26/21

- "An elderly man was injured by an explosive device left behind by ISIS, south of Mosul," 12/26/21

- "An explosive device targets a convoy of the International Coalition in the south of the country," 12/26/21

- "A farmer was killed and his brother was wounded by unknown gunmen in Diyala," 12/23/21

- "ISIS kidnaps a civilian south of Kirkuk," 12/27/21

- "Security source: Missile bombing targets Zlikan camp, north of Mosul," 12/27/21

 

NRT, "Three Iraqi Soldiers Killed As ISIS Attacks Continue In Diyala," 12/29/21

 

Shafaq News, "An explosion targets a convoy carrying equipment for the International Coalition in Baghdad," 12/22/21

- "In the third attack of its kind within hours, an explosion targets the international coalition in Iraq," 12/26/21

 

Shilani, Mustafa, "Iraqi soldier killed, over a dozen wounded in explosions northeast of Diyala," Kurdistan 24, 12/27/21

 

Al Sumaria, "An attack targeting a Turkish army base in Ninewa," 12/27/21

- "Seven policemen were killed and wounded in an attack in Salahaddin," 12/27/21

- "Two casualties and injuries from the crowd in a terrorist attack in Salahaddin," 12/22/21