Security In Iraq February 15-21, 2024

For the second week in a row there were no reported attacks by either the Islamic State or pro-Iran groups in Iraq.

 

The Islamic State hasn’t carried out an attack in Iraq since the fourth week of January. The group went silent several times in the second half of last year. This is the latest sign that the insurgency is finally fading into obscurity in the country.

 

Factions aligned with Tehran have also maintained their ceasefire negotiated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Sudani government. Iran was reportedly afraid that the U.S. would strike it in retaliation for Iraqi groups killing 3 soldiers in a drone strike in Jordan. Prime Minister Sudani on the other hand, wanted to give negotiations a chance to work out a deal for an American withdrawal.

 

There has been violence going on in Iraq caused by the rivalry between Sadr and pro-Iran groups. The most recent outbreak occurred after a Sadrist leader was kidnapped and murdered in Hilla, Babil. A member of Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia warned the new Babil governor from Asaib Ahl Al-haq that he had 24 hours to find the culprits or face retaliation. Then on February 21 the Hashd headquarters in Hilla was attacked.

 

Clashes between Sadr and his political opponents started over the December provincial elections when Sadrists assaulted offices across Baghdad and the south. Afterwards there were tit for tat attacks between the two sides. Sadr has battled his rivals for years and this is just the latest example.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Feb 1-7	Feb 8-14	Feb 15-21
Israel	1 Pro-Iran	-
TOTAL	1 Pro-Iran	-

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province

Feb 1-7

Feb 8-14

Feb 15-21

 

Security In Iraq 2022-23

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
JAN 2022	87/41 Pro-Iran	33	59
FEB	42/14 Pro-Iran	10	29
MAR	46/12/1 Pro-Iran	19	21
APR	111/22 Pro-Iran	34	103
MAY	73/13 Pro-Iran	41	51
JUN	40/14 Pro-Iran	7	33
JUL	43/6 Pro-Iran	33	54
AUG	57/7/1 Pro-Iran	24	54
SEP	41/1/3 M	9	64
OCT	28/2/3 M	17	45
NOV	23	10	28
DEC	33/1 Pro-Iran	42	38
JAN 2023	29/4 Pro-Iran	12	15
Feb 1-7	6/2 Pro-Iran	1	5
Feb 8-14	1	-	2
Feb 15-21	4	4	8
Feb 22-28	9/1 Pro-Iran	7	3
FEB	20/3 Pro-Iran	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	-
Apr 22-28	2	1	-
Apr 29-30	1	1	-
APR	16	6	8
May 1-7	2	1	1
May 8-14	6	4	3
May 15-21	3	2	6
May 22-28	3	1	3
May 29-31	2	-	3
MAY	15	8	14
Jun 1-7	-	-	-
Jun 8-14	4	7	4
Jun 15-21	2	1	2
Jun 22-28	4	2	4
Jun 29-30	-	-	-
JUN	10	10	10
Jul 1-7	1	-	-
Jul 8-14	3	2	1
Jul 15-21	2	-	1
Jul 22-28	2	-	2
Jul 29-31	3/2 Pro-Iran	-	-
JUL	11/2 Pro-Iran	2	4
Aug 1-7	4	-	4
Aug 8-14	2	1	3
Aug 15-21	2	-	5
Aug 22-28	2	-	2
Aug 29-31	3/1 Pro-Iran	1	9
AUG	13/1 Pro-Iran	2	23
Sep 1-7	1	-	1
Sep 8-14	1	1	-
Sep 15-21	2	-	4
Sep 22-28	1	1	1
Sep 29-30	-	-	-
SEP	5	2	6
Oct 1-7	-	-	-
Oct 8-14	-	-	-
Oct 15-21	7 Pro-Iran	-	-
Oct 22-28	7/5 Pro-Iran	-	8
Oct 29-31	3 Pro-Iran	-	-
OCT	17/15 Pro-Iran	-	8
Nov 1-7	11/9	4	2
Nov 8-14	12/10	-	3
Nov 15-21	6 Pro-Iran	-	8 Amer
Nov 22-28	4 Pro-Iran	-	-
Nov 29-30	2	11	16
NOV	35/29 Pro-Iran	15	29
Dec 1-7	10/8 Pro-Iran	1	9
Dec 8-14	8/6 Pro-Iran	-	2
Dec 15-21	6/2 Pro-Iran	1	2
Dec 22-28	7/6 Pro-Iran	-	3 US
Dec 29-31	4 Pro-Iran
DEC	35/26 Pro-Iran	2K	16W
Jan 1-7	10/6 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	5	9
Jan 8-14	7/3 Pro-Iran	3	3
Jan 15-21	10/6 Pro-Iran	6	6
Jan 22-28	11/10 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jan 29-31	3 Pro-Ira	-	-
JAN	42/28 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	14	20
Feb 1-7	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Feb 8-14	-	-	-
Feb 15-21	-	-	-

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, “Sadrists Issue Ultimatum to Babylon Governor Over Activist’s Death,” 2/19/24

 

Ebrahim, Hudhaifa, “Daily Clashes Between Iran-Backed Militias in Iraq Kill Over 200 Fighters,” The Medialine, 2/21/24

 

Al Mada, “Following missile attacks … Al-Sadr threatens to expel those who interact with the shameless militias,” 2/22/24

 

NINA, “The headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Hilla was attacked by two mortar shells,” 2/21/24

- “A leader of the Sadrist Movement kidnapped west of Hilla,” 2/18/24

 

Rasheed, Ahmed, Hafezi, Parisa and Azhari, Timour, “Iraqi armed groups dial down U.S. attacks on request of Iran commander,” Reuters, 2/17/24