Sunday, April 23, 2023

Security In Iraq Apr 15-21, 2023

Ramadan ended and the Islamic State did not launch its annual offensive in Iraq. There were more attacks in April then March but the numbers were still insignificant.

 

From April 15-21 there were 5 security incidents by the Islamic State. That compared to 4 the week before and 5 the first week of the month. The 14 incidents in April so far outpaced the 8 recorded in March. However, this was the twelfth straight week that incidents have been in single digits and the 14th of 15 weeks in 2023 that has been true.

 

The 5 incidents took place in Baghdad (1), Diyala (3) and Kirkuk (1).

 

They resulted in 3 deaths, 2 in Diyala and 1 in Kirkuk.

 

In Taji in northern Baghdad province a grenade was thrown at an intelligence officer’s house. Taji is next to Tarmiya which has seen a steady dose of insurgent activity over the last few months.

 

There were three incidents in Diyala, including an IED on a patrol, an attack upon a checkpoint, and a raid upon a house where two people including a soldier were executed. What was different about these operations was that two of them were in the western section of the province which sees little insurgent activity. IS has long standing bases in the center and northeast of the governorate. When it works outside of those areas it’s usually in the northwest along the border with Salahaddin which is another region under IS influence. Those two attacks therefore can be considered offensive ones.

 

Finally, there was an attack upon the police in Kirkuk which left one officer dead.

 

Every year since 2003 the militants have launched Ramadan offensives in Iraq. 2023 marks the first year this has not happened. The insurgency is a shell of its former self and is isolated in the rural, mountainous and desert regions of Iraq where it has become irrelevant.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province

Apr 1-7

Apr 8-14

Apr 15-21

Anbar

-

1

-

Baghdad

-

1

1

Diyala

-

-

3

Kirkuk

3

-

1

Ninewa

1

2

-

Salahaddin

1

-

-

TOTAL

5

4

5

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province

Apr 1-7

Apr 8-14

Apr 15-21

Diyala

-

-

2 (2K)

Kirkuk

4 (1K, 3W)

-

1 (1K)

Ninewa

2 (2W)

1 (1W)

-

Salahaddin

2 (2W)

-

-

TOTAL

8 (1K, 7W)

1 (1W)

3 (3K)

 

Security In Iraq 2022-23

Week

Security

Incidents

(Total/By IS)

Dead

(Total/By IS)

Wounded

(Total/By IS)

Jan 1-7

18/9

3

4

Jan 8-14

35/21

3

18

Jan 15-21

12/5

17

12

Jan 22-28

16/3

8

19

Jan 29-31

6/2

2

6

JAN

87/41

33

59

Feb 1-7

11/3

1

10

Feb 8-14

14/6

8

3

Feb 15-21

9/1

-

11

Feb 22-28

8/4

1

5

FEB

42/14

10

29

Mar 1-7

7/3

1

-

Mar 8-14

18/3/1

6

5

Mar 15-21

10/4

5

6

Mar 22-28

6/1

7

4

Mar 29-31

4/1

-

5

MAR

46/12/1

19

21

Apr 1-7

16/8

-

6

Apr 8-14

21/7

8

25

Apr 15-21

22/2

10

22

Apr 22-28

44/4

14

44

Apr 29-30

6/1

2

6

APR

111/22

34

103

May 1-7

31/3

8

25

May 8-14

9/2

2

7

May 15-21

18/6

10

6

May 22-28

13/1

21

11

May 29-31

2/1

-

2

MAY

73/13

41

51

Jun 1-7

6/2

-

8

Jun 8-14

12/4

1

9

Jun 15-21

10/2

5

2

Jun 22-28

12/6

1

14

Jun 29-30

-

-

-

JUN

40/14

7

33

Jul 1-7

7/1

6

11

Jul 8-14

3

-

2

Jul 15-21

11/2

14

16

Jul 22-28

18/7

9

21

Jul 29-31

4

4

4

JUL

43/6

33

54

Aug 1-7

9/1

6

15

Aug 8-14

14

2

14

Aug 15-21

7/2

-

6

Aug 22-28

23/4

14

15

Aug 29-31

4

2

4

AUG

57/7/1

24

54

Sep 1-7

11/1

3

20

Sep 8-14

5

-

12

Sep 15-21

12

4

14

Sep 22-28

10/2 M

2

16

Sep 29-30

3/1 M

-

2

SEP

41/1/3 M

9

64

Oct 1-7

9/2 M

6

16

Oct 8-14

8/2/1 M

5

19

Oct 15-21

6

4

7

Oct 22-28

3

2

1

Oct 29-31

2

-

2

OCT

28/2/3 M

17

45

Nov 1-7

7

1

3

Nov 8-14

6

1

8

Nov 15-21

8

7

17

Nov 22-28

2

1

-

Nov 29-30

-

-

-

NOV

23

10

28

Dec 1-7

13/1

6

11

Dec 8-14

6

7

8

Dec 15-21

6

29

15

Dec 22-28

6

-

4

Dec 29-31

2

-

-

DEC

33/1

42

38

Jan 1-7

7

4

2

Jan 8-14

6/1

5

2

Jan 15-21

11/1

2

7

Jan 22-28

5/2

1

2

Jan 29-31

1

-

2

JAN

29/4

12

15

Feb 1-7

6/2

1

5

Feb 8-14

1

-

2

Feb 15-21

4

4

8

Feb 22-28

9/1

7

3

FEB

20/3

12

18

Mar 1-7

3

10

4

Mar 8-14

2

2

1

Mar 15-21

2

1

3

Mar 22-28

1

2

-

Mar 29-31

1

3

-

MAR

9

18

8

Apr 1-7

5

1

7

Apr 8-14

4

-

1

Apr 15-21

5

3

-

 

Violence By Province Apr 14-21, 2023

Province

Violence

2018 Avg

2019 Avg

2020 Avg

2021 Avg

2022 Avg

2023 Avg

Anbar

-

12.6 incidents/

month

8.6 incidents/ month

7.0 incidents/ month

4.6 incidents/ month

2.0 incidents/month

0.6 Incidents/month

Babil

-

4.0 incidents/month

3.0 incidents/month

2.7 incidents/month

2.5 incidents/month

2.0 incidents/month

0.3 Incidents/month

Baghdad

1 Incident

 

1 Grenade

33.0 incidents/month

11.6 incidents/month

7.3 incidents/month

5.6 incidents/ month

3.5 incidents/month

3.6 Incidents/month

Diyala

3 Incidents

2 Killed

1 Civilian

1 ISF

 

2 Shootings

1 IED

38.6 incidents/month

30.0 incidents/month

30.6 incidents/month

22.8 incidents/month

12.2 incidents/month

5.3 Incidents/month

Kirkuk

1 Incident

1 Killed

1 ISF

 

1 Shooting

36.5 incidents/month

18.6 incidents/month

13.9 incidents/month

11.6 incidents/month

8.2 incidents/month

1.3 Incidents/month

Ninewa

-

20.0 incidents/month

13.2 incidents/month

10.6 incidents/month

8.4 incidents/month

6.0 incidents/month

3 Incidents/month

Salahaddin

-

21.7 incidents/month

10.6 incidents/month

11.2 incidents/month

11.5 incidents/month

5.5 incidents/month

2.3 Incidents/month

IRAQ

5 Incidents

3 Killed

1 Civilian

2 ISF

 

3 Shootings

1 IED

166.6 incidents/month

95.5 incidents/month

85.5 incidents/month

69.9 incidents/month

40.2 incidents/month

17 Incidents/month

 

SOURCES

 

NINA, "An IED explodes on a security patrol in Baquba. No injuries reported," 4/15/23

- "The Army Repels A Terrorist Attack East Of Baquba," 4/18/23

 

Rudaw, "Iraqi soldier, wife killed in suspected ISIS attack in Diyala," 4/18/23

 

Al Sumaria, "A policeman was killed in an armed attack in Kirkuk," 4/21/23

- "Targeting a senior officer's house north of Baghdad," 4/15/23

 

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