The Islamic State’s Car Bomb Campaign In Iraq’s Anbar

Anbar is the main focus of the Islamic State (IS). While its attacks have dramatically declined in almost every other province they have remained steady in Anbar over the last year. It is also the only province where IS has continued to gain territory highlighted by its victory in Ramadi in May. As part of its tactics the group has deployed a huge number of vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) mostly to break down the government’s defenses. The car bombs highlight the extensive networks IS has throughout Anbar.

The Islamic State began a new car bomb campaign in Iraq in July. Anbar was one of the main targets with the second most VBIEDs in the country after Salahaddin. In June there were just 32 car bombs in the province, which dramatically jumped to 106 in July, and 92 in August. The majority of those got destroyed before reaching their targets because most were targeting the government’s forces that have dramatically improved their defensive capabilities with anti-tank missiles that can destroyed the vehicles from a safe distance. To show the intensity of these attacks there were 58 car bombs in Baghdad during those same three months versus 230 in Anbar.

IS’s car bomb campaign is concentrated upon a few specific areas of the governorate. The Ramadi-Fallujah area had by far the most VBIEDs from June to July with 143 as IS is attempting to repel the government’s offensive there. After that there were 48 bombings in the Haditha-Hit area, which is in the western section of the province. Haditha is one of the few cities in that region still under government control. There were 15 VBIEDs in the Garma district to the northeast of Fallujah. The government has been trying to clear that area for the last several months. Finally, there were 9 car bombs in Thar Thar in northern Anbar, 2 in Amiriya Fallujah to the southeast, 7 in Nukhaib in the far south, and 6 in unknown locations. Those are all areas still under Baghdad’s authority.

These targets point to where IS probably has its car bomb factories in Anbar and the neighboring areas. Fallujah has been under IS control since at least the summer of 2014. It was the first city to fall to insurgents back in December 2013. IS was only one of many factions in Fallujah at that time, but eventually asserted its dominance. It is probably using Fallujah to send car bombs into Ramadi to the west and Garma to the east and all of the towns in between. IS also has suspected VBIED bases in southern Salahaddin in places like Taji that could be used to attack Garma as well. In the west, IS controls Hit and the areas around Haditha. Both are likely being used to build car bombs and attack that corridor. Thar Thar is right along the Salahaddin border so that governorate could be the source for most of the car bombs launched into that district. Amiriya Fallujah is by Babil where IS has car bomb bases in the north like in Mahmudiya, and Fallujah could be another source as well. Nukhaib is far out in the western desert, and far away from areas under IS control. It’s most likely that the organization has a VBIED assembly base somewhere outside of the town or simply sends them from Fallujah or the towns it controls out west on special assignments.

Since Anbar was the first place that IS was able to conquer territory in Iraq it has had the longest time to build up its networks there. Places like Fallujah are obvious VBIED bases, but it probably has others amongst the small towns up and down the Euphrates that runs through the governorate from east to west. It is also probably using its camps in southern Salahaddin and northern Babil as well to hit the Anbar cities on the western periphery. These factories are obviously well supplied as shown by the dramatic increase in bombings recently, and are able to deliver car bombs to all parts of the province. With IS controlling so much territory in Anbar it is unlikely that many of its car bomb factories will be disrupted any time soon and that these bombings will continue unabated.

Car Bombs In Anbar Jun-Aug 2015

Month	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Jun	32 – 18 Destroyed	91	96
Jul	106 – 76 Destroyed	204	100
Aug	92 – 77 Destroyed	81	66

Location	Car Bombs
Ramadi-Fallujah Corridor, Central Anbar	143
Haditha-Hit Corridor, West Anbar	48
Garma Area, East Anbar	15
Thar Thar Area, North Anbar	9
Nukhaib, South	7
Amiriya Fallujah, East Anbar	2
Unknown	6

Human Rights Watch Finds Iraq Government Forces Destroyed Tikrit Area After Its Recapture

Human Rights Watch (HRW) just released a new report on abuses resulting from the on going war against the Islamic State in Iraq. This time the group focused upon the Tikrit area of Salahaddin where they accused elements of the Hashd al-Shaabi and Sunni volunteers for systematically destroying homes, looting, and carrying out arbitrary arrests after the district was freed in March 2015.

The operation to clear Tikrit and the surrounding towns began in March 2015. On March 6, Dour to the south of Tikrit was taken. Albu Ajeel fell the next day, and then Alam on March 8 with Tikrit itself being freed by the end of the month. On April 1, Prime Minister Haider Abadi declared victory. Quickly after the offensive was over Human Rights Watch believed that elements of the Hashd al-Shaabi and Sunni volunteers began burning, blowing up and looting buildings. The reasons were revenge for the Camp Speicher massacre, and the belief that the locals were pro-IS. The Camp Speicher killings occurred shortly after IS took Tikrit in June 2014 when the militants collected together some 1,700 Shiite cadets and executed them. Since the Tikrit district fell largely without a fight many in the Hashd and Sunni auxiliaries believed that the locals supported the insurgents and deserved to be punished for it.

Human Rights Watch based its reports upon analysis of satellite photographs of the Tikrit district and first hand accounts from the area. The group looked at pictures from December 28, 2014 to May 26, 2015 to do a before and after analysis of the buildings in Tikrit, Dour, Alam and Albu Ajeel. It also interviewed a number of people who were in the district after it was liberated. The evidence collected pointed to a systematic campaign to destroy sections of each town and city driven by a desire for revenge and to punish people they believed to be supporters of the Islamic State.

Two days after Dour was freed at the beginning of March the security forces turned over control of the town to the Hashd. A local sheikh told Human Rights Watch that a Sunni Hashd member bragged that his unit had destroyed buildings in the town because the locals were IS and Baathist sympathizers. There was also a video posted by a Shiite Hashd fighter of a house being blown up claiming it belonged to IS. Locals and policemen told of seeing destroyed structures too. By May 26, HRW found evidence of over 400 demolished buildings. Four residents provided a list of 520 blown up homes, 430 burned ones, and 95 damaged stores. Others said that up to 660 houses and 450 shops and government offices were destroyed. HRW also received pictures of 40 blown up and burned homes. In the rural village of Jallam al-Dour outside of the main town two people saw elements of Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq arrest 200 people around March 8. 160 of those have not been seen again and are feared dead. A local parliamentarian called for an investigation into the missing, but nothing came of it. People from Dour blamed Kataib Hezbollah for most of the property destruction, while others mentioned the Badr Organization, Ali Akbar Brigades, and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. Imagery of the town beforehand showed that there was only minor damage caused by IS and the operation to take it meaning that most of the structures were taken down afterward it was freed.

The same scenario played out in Albu Ajeel after it was freed on March 7. Many within the joint forces blamed the Albu Ajeel tribe for participating in the Camp Speicher massacre, and they were further incited by the discovery of mass graves in the town with 300-400 bodies in them. Just two days after the town was freed satellites were already showing large amounts of destruction. On March 9 a video was posted with a man yelling “Burn them!” as he drove through Albu Ajeel with almost every building he passed been set on fire. A local who volunteered with the Hashd said three days after Asaib Ahl Al-Haq took over the town it began burning it down. HRW via its satellite imagery analysis found 75 burned buildings in the town in March.

Alam and the neighboring town of Al-Ali were different because there it was Sunni volunteers who were responsible for the abuses. The town was retaken on March 8. Afterward volunteers destroyed around 40 homes according to sheikhs and residents, and satellites showed 45 damaged buildings. A commander of the forces admitted as much to HRW. Most of the destruction occurred in the smaller village of Al-Ali where 28 homes were destroyed. Again, the volunteers believed that Alam and Al-Ali were pro-insurgent and therefore deserved what they got. Many people from the latter have not returned, afraid that they might face reprisals if they do.

Finally, Tikrit faced the same fate. Much of the burning and bombings occurred around the presidential palaces that were used by IS as a headquarters, and in the Qadisiyah neighborhood, which was viewed as an IS stronghold. From March to April HRW found evidence of 75 houses destroyed in Qadisiyah. From April to May 90 more buildings looked like they were blown up in that neighborhood. One local security guard who returned to the city on April 2 said that he counted more than 200 houses that had been damaged in Qadisiyah. Two police officers interviewed by HRW said they saw Hashd forces burning homes after Tikrit was taken. Locals also said that the Hashd were looting and carrying out extrajudicial killings of captured IS fighters.  

Human Rights Watch’s new study exposes more of the dark side of the war against the Islamic State. There are many anecdotal stories about the destruction that both the central and Kurdish regional government’s forces are carrying out in areas that they have cleared. HRW provides more hard evidence to back up those reports. What should be pointed out that this is not a national policy. There are some places where locals have been allowed back in and the post-fighting destruction has been kept to a minimum. That has usually happened in areas where there are locals who assist the government forces. Where there are no residents allied with the Hashd, security forces or peshmerga there is a much higher chance that the area will be emptied and property destroyed because the general opinion seems to be that any area under IS control supported the militants. This has created a series of ghost towns sprinkled across central Iraq that are likely to remain empty for the foreseeable future and represent the collateral damage being caused by the war.

SOURCES

Barnard, Anne, “Iraqi Army Cements Hold on Tikrit, but Islamic State Sends a Message,” New York Times, 3/11/15

Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Militia Abuses Mar Fight Against ISIS,” 9/20/15

Xinhua, “Iraqi security forces pound militants-held town in Iraq’s Salahudin,” 3/1/15

Musings On Iraq In The News

My article on the KRG’s President Barzani’s call for elections was republished in eKurd. I was also quoted in "No end in sight for Iraq fight against ISIS in Ramadi" in the Military Times. Finally, my article on 10 experts opinions of how the war against IS is going was republished by the Saqr Center for Strategic Studies.

DUKE VIDEO: ISIS Terrorism At And Abroad Jessica Stern

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR COUNTER-TERRORISM VIDEO: Islamic State Future of Global Jihad?

Security Stable For Last Month In Iraq

The security situation in Iraq has remained stable for the last month. There have been around the same number of attacks and casualties since early August 2015. Incidents leveled off several months ago, but it has only been recently that casualties declined as well.

Musings On Iraq counted 144 attacks in Iraq from September 8-14. That was only a little bit higher than the previous weeks which saw 139 incidents from September 1-7, 136 August 22-28, 135 August 15-21, and 132 August 8-14. The numbers have been going up each week, but only slightly.

There were a reported 368 deaths and 394 wounded during the week. The dead consisted of 1 Sahwa, 19 Hashd al-Shaabi, 28 Peshmerga, 68 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 95 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters, and 157 civilians. There were also 1 Asayesh, 23 Hashd, 48 ISF, 115 Peshmerga, and 207 civilians injured.

Like attacks the dead and wounded have been at roughly the same level the last few weeks. August 15-21 there were 699 casualties, 638 August 22-28, 637 September 1-7, and 762 September 8-14.

The Islamic States’ newest car bomb campaign continued for another week. There has been at least one vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) launched each day for 23 days straight from August 23 to September 14. During the 2^nd week of September there were a total of 34 car bombs, but only five detonated on their target, with the other 29 being destroyed beforehand. As usual, Anbar, 20, and Salahaddin, 11, had the largest number of these types of bombings as IS has been launching them against the government offensives there. There was also one VBIED in Baghdad, one in Diyala, and one discovered and dismantled in Karbala. This was the second month that IS had tried to hit Karbala. Luckily neither went off, but it shows that IS is attempting to hit the south again after a noticeable hiatus.

The government’s operation to clear Fallujah and Ramadi continued into its second month in September. There were 24 incidents in Anbar leading to 29 dead and 57 wounded. Those are gross undercounts as Baghdad has suppressed most of the casualty reports coming out of the province. During the week the joint forces still found themselves going back and forth through the same areas. Niamiya had its second sweep and was declared cleared on September 9. Albu Diab was cleared for the second time, there was an operation in Jeraishi for the third time, while Husaiba was declared freed for the fifth time. The operation in Garma, which began at the very start of June was also on going. The center of the town was surrounded towards the end of that month, but progress there has been stalled since then. On September 11, a new operation in the Rashad area of the Garma district was announced, the fourth since July. It didn’t help that many of these announcements were only propaganda instead of real victories. For example, Husaiba was declared cleared before any units even reached it. The Iraqi government is in war mode right now, and wants to highlight its wins both real and imagined.

Baghdad had 57 incidents with 65 dead and 154 injured. Those attacks were evenly distributed throughout the province with 11 in the west, 13 in the north, 14 in the east and the south respectively. There was one car bomb in the west, but as usual IEDs, 22, and sticky bombs, 10, were what really caused the most casualties.

Violence In Baghdad Sep 8-14, 2015

Center: 3 – 1 IED, 1 Shooting, 1 Sticky Bomb

East: 14 – 1 Kidnapping, 4 Shootings, 4 Sticky Bombs, 5 IEDs

North: 10 – 1 Stabbing, 1 Shooting, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Kidnappings, 5 IEDs

Outer North: 3 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 IED, 1 Shooting

South: 9 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Grenade, 2 Shootings, 2 Sticky Bombs, 3 IEDs

Outer South: 5 – 1 Grenade, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs

West: 7 – 1 Car Bomb, 1 Shooting, 2 Sticky Bombs, 3 IDs

Outer West: 4 – 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs

Diyala witnessed another car bombing during the week. The governorate has become a new target of the on going VBIED campaign with almost one such attack per week. There were also three incidents in the Kahanqin district in the northeast. The Peshmerga and Hashd emptied that area of civilians when it was cleared at the end of 2014. Recently people have been allowed back in, but there might have been some IS infiltrators amongst them accounting for this violence. There were a total of 12 attacks, 16 dead and 20 injured during the week.

The Kurds made another thrust into southern Kirkuk in September. Starting on September 11 the Peshmerga moved deeper into Daquq district taking a reported 20 villages. The Kurds first attacked the area at the end of August then took a break before renewing their operations this previous week. In a rare case of openness the Peshmerga announced some of its losses with 20 dead and 115 wounded during the operation. Like Baghdad, Irbil has been suppressing its losses, so this was an exception to their usual media silence.

Two waves of Turkish air strikes upon Kurdistan resulted in casualties in the second week of September. Ankara claimed that it killed 95 PKK fighters in bombing on September 8 and 12.

There were more IS executions in Ninewa. Of the 104 killed there during the week, 96 were murdered in the Mosul area by the Islamists. That included one radio director, one member of the Mutahidun party, 3 University of Mosul professors, 5 mukhtars, and 32 soldiers. IS also fired mortars at the town of Tal Saqif killing 8 Peshmerga.

Finally, the government’s struggle to take back the Baiji district in Salahaddin entered into another week. Propaganda is even worse there then in Anbar. For example, on August 28, the IS stronghold of Siniya was declared cleared. Then on September 5 it turned out the joint forces had just finished surrounding it. Then it was declared freed again on September 9, but then only 70% cleared on September 11. Whatever the true rate of progress may be the fighting there is intense with a motorcycle bomb, 2 suicide bombers, and 11 car bombs being launched against the government’s forces from September 8-14.  

Violence In Iraq By Week 2015

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	189	466	464
Jan 8-14	172	733	518
Jan 15-21	189	403	528
Jan 22-28	195	492	899
Jan 29-31	91	306	568
JAN	836	2,400	2,977
Feb 1-7	155	408	688
Feb 8-14	177	443	566
Feb 15-21	169	592	383
Feb 22-28	171	391	705
FEB	672	1,834	2,342
Mar 1-7	176	373	595
Mar 8-14	137	398	656
Mar 15-21	146	1,304	505
Mar 22-28	174	273	406
Mar 29-31	72	205	219
MAR	705	2,553 + 4	2,381 + 150
Apr 1-7	127	218	422
Apr 8-14	137	676	542
Apr 15-21	172	729	717
Apr 22-28	163	497	483
Apr 29-30	50	162 + 7	182 + 299
APR	649	2,282	2,346
May 1-7	154	627	450
May 8-14	154	420	549
May 15-21	124	963	387
May 22-28	108	341 + 1,499	348
May 29-31	38	66	164 + 646
MAY	578	2,417 + 1,499	1,898 + 646
Jun 1-7	132	431	476
Jun 8-14	126	522 + 405	394
Jun 15-21	141	365	373
Jun 22-28	162	306	474
Jun 29-30	61	122	189
JUN	622	1,804	2,012
Jul 1-7	161	435	719
Jul 8-14	140	384	570
Jul 15-21	109	359	597 + 4,024
Jul 22-28	145	527	590
Jul 29-31	53	453 + 8	603
JUL	608	2,166	3,079 + 4,024
Aug 1-7	154	650 + 760	298
Aug 8-14	132	726	645
Aug 15-21	135	345	354
Aug 22-28	136	342	296
Aug 29-31	59	112 + 5	169
AUG	616	2,180 + 760	1,762
Sep 1-7	139	285	352
Sep 8-14	144	368	394

Car Bombs In Iraq, September 2015

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Sep 1	Haditha x3, Anbar Khalis, Diyala Sadoun St, Baghdad – 1 destroyed	16	26
Sep 2	Garma & Tal al-Mushahid, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Sep 3	Shaab & Shuhada, Baghdad Garma, Anbar – 4 destroyed Siniya, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	2	15
Sep 4	Haditha & Zoba, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Sep 5	Albu Aetha & Humaira Anbar– 5 destroyed
Sep 6	Bashir, Kirkuk – 2 destroyed
Sep 7	Albu Aetha, Anbar – 5 destroyed Karrada, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Totals	6 – 25 Destroyed	18	41
Sep 8	East of Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Sep 9	Ain Assad, East Husaiba & Husaiba, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Sep 10	Albu Soda, Anbar Jawaanh, Anbar – 1 destroyed Siniya, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	9	14
Sep 11	Jaraeshi, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Sep 12	Albu Jwari, Salahaddin Anbar Univ, East Husaiba – 7 destroyed Hajaj, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed	3	8
Sep 13	Albu Aziz, Anbar East Husaiba & Garma, Anbar – 4 destroyed Albu Jwari & Baiji, Salahaddin – 5 destroyed	3	5
Sep 14	Nusour Sq, Baghdad Khalis, Diyala Ain Al-Tamur, Karbala – 1 destroyed	7	19
Totals	5 – 29 Destroyed	16	46

Violence In Iraq Sep 2015 by Province

Provinces	Sep 1-7	Sep 8-14
Anbar	25 Incidents 52 Killed: 5 Civilians, 10 Hashd, 13 ISF, 24 Sahwa 45 Wounded: 8 Civilians, 10 Sahwa, 12 ISF, 15 Hashd 10 Shootings 4 Suicide Bombers 3 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Mortars 19 Suicide Bombers Killed 20 Car Bombs Destroyed	24 Incidents 29 Killed: 4 Civilians, 8 Hashd, 17 ISF 57 Wounded: 13 Hashd, 19 ISF, 25 Civilians 10 Shootings 2 IEDs 2 Suicide Bombers 2 Suicide Car Bombs 2 Mortars 4 Suicide Bombers killed 5 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 1 Motorcycle Bomb Destroyed 13 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	2 Incidents 2 Killed: 2 Civilians 5 wounded: 5 Civilians 1 IED	5 Incidents 4 Killed: 4 Civilians 14 Wounded: 4 ISF, 10 Civilians 1 Shooting 3 IEDs
Baghdad	58 Incidents 73 Killed: 2 ISF, 71 Civilians 199 Wounded: 8 ISF, 191 Civilians 11 Shootings 28 IEDs 8 Sticky Bombs 2 Car Bombs 1 Grenade 2 Car Bombs Destroyed	57 Incidents 65 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 4 ISF, 58 Civilians 154 Wounded: 14 ISF, 140 Civilians 14 Shootings 22 IEDs 10 Sticky Bombs 1 Car Bomb 2 Grenades
Basra	-	3 Incidents 1 Wounded: 1 ISF 2 IEDs 1 Sound Bomb
Diyala	8 Incidents 14 Killed: 5 ISF, 9 Civilians 24 Wounded: 1 ISF, 23 Civilians 4 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 1 Mortar	12 Incidents 16 Killed: 3 Hashd, 4 ISF, 9 Civilians 20 Wounded: 1 ISF, 1 Asayesh, 3 Hashd, 15 Civilians 5 Shootings 5 IEDs 1 Car Bomb
Karbala	1 Incident 2 Sound Bombs	1 Incident 1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Kirkuk	4 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Wounded: 1 Hashd 2 Shootings 2 Car Bombs Destroyed	6 Incidents 29 Killed: 9 Civilians, 20 Peshmerga 121 Wounded: 6 Civilians, 115 Peshmerga 2 Shootings 3 IEDs
KRG	-	2 Incidents 95 Killed: 95 PKK 2 Turkish Air Strikes
Ninewa	21 Incidents 116 Killed: 8 Peshmerga, 108 Civilians 22 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 20 Civilians 10 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Rocket 1 Mortar	13 Incidents 104 Killed: 8 Peshmerga, 32 ISF, 64 Civilians 4 Shootings 1 IED 1 Mortar
Qadisiyah	1 Incident	-
Salahaddin	19 Incidents 27 Killed: 6 ISF, 21 Civilians 56 Wounded: 21 ISF, 35 Civilians 7 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Mortar 12 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed	21 Incidents 26 Killed: 6 Hashd, 9 Civilians, 11 ISF 27 Wounded: 7 Hashd, 9 ISF, 11 Civilians 11 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 2 Suicide Bombers Killed 9 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 1 Motorcycle Bomb Destroyed 1 Car Bomb Destroyed

SOURCES

AIN, "anti-terror destroyed five suicide car bombs in attack on Baiji," 9/13/15

- "ISF foils ISIL attack by 5 SVBIEDs in Baij district," 9/14/15

- "ISF, PMU foil ISIL attack by 4 SVBIEDs in Baij district," 9/12/15

- "The killing of a number of Daash and two car bombs destroyed in Garma," 9/13/15

Al Mada, "The destruction of three car bombs and Daash rocket launchers east of Ramadi," 9/12/15

- "Security forces thwart Daash suicide car bomb attack east of Ramadi," 9/8/15

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "Security forces foil suicide attack, kills 7 ISIS members east of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 9/9/15

Al Masalah, "Found a car bomb west of Karbala," 9/15/15

- "Security forces advancing north of Ramadi," 9/11/15

News.Az, "Turkey bombs PKK terror camps in northern Iraq, 60 dead," 9/12/15

NINA, "/3/ elements of the security forces killed, five others wounded in a suicide attack northeast of Fallujah," 9/13/15

- "12 Terrorists Killed In Ramadi," 9/9/15

- "62 Terrorists Killed And Wounded in Siniah Area In Baiji," 9/10/15

- "A Car Bomb, Rocket Launcher Destroyed East Of Ramadi In Anbar," 9/12/15

- "A number of terrorists killed, a number of car bombs destroyed in Al-Anbar and Baiji," 9/13/15

- "Peshmerga forces liberate 10 villages south of Kirkuk," 9/11/15,

Al Rayy, "The martyrdom and wounding of 18 people in market in Khalis, Diyala," 9/14/15

- "Popular crowd repels an attack by Daash with three car bombs west of Falluja," 9/12/15

Shafaq News, "15 ISIS elements killed … suicide tanker bomb attack foiled near Ain al-Asad base," 9/10/15

- "Casualties of police and PMU in three-axes ISIS attack on Baiji," 9/12/15

- "More than 50 Turkish fighters bomb sites of PKK," 9/8/15

Sotaliraq, "Destruction of a suicide tank bomb west of Ramadi," 9/9/15

- "killing and injuring at least nine people blown up by a car bomb in west Baghdad," 9/14/15