Islamic State Continues Mass Killings In Northern Iraq 2nd Week of September 2014

 

Security incidents reported in the press continued their downward trend in the second week of September 2014. At the same time casualties have stayed at a high level because of on going massacres by the Islamic State in the sections of northern Iraq that they control. It seems that this is part of the organization’s consolidation of power as it seeks to eliminate its opponents and those it feels have no place in its caliphate.

From September 8-14, 2014 there were only 150 security incidents. That tied August 15-21 for the lowest amount for any week this year. That follows a steady decline in attacks that started in August and continues into September going from a high of 265 in the first week of August to 178 the second week, 150 the third, 179 the fourth, 168 September 1-7, and then 150 September 8-14. This all points to the fighting stabilizing across Iraq. There are no more large surges by the insurgents, and piece by piece the security forces and peshmerga are taking back small areas or holding off militant attacks.

Despite this the number of dead and wounded remain high each week. From September 8-14 there were 896 killed, the highest since 951 fatalities from August 1-8. The provinces with the most dead were Ninewa with 646, because of a massacre there, followed by 85 in Baghdad, 78 in Salahaddin, and 52 in Anbar. The other seven provinces reporting casualties were all in single figures. There were another 662 people wounded with the most in Baghdad, 236, Salahaddin, 217, and Anbar, 116.

Violence In Iraq By Week 2014

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	244	363	736
Jan 8-14	272	364	683
Jan 15-21	205	358	616
Jan 22-28	236	305	618
Jan 29-31	57	93	237
JAN	1,014	1,483	2,890
Feb 1-7	204	296	700
Feb 8-14	226	258	505
Feb 15-21	264	346	703
Feb 22-28	251	374	618
FEB	945	1,274	2,526
Mar 1-7	253	412	702
Mar 8-14	206	324	612
Mar 15-21	216	423	736
Mar 22-27	211	279	580
Mar 28-31	110	168	271
MAR	996	1,606	2,901
Apr 1-7	238	259	550
Apr 8-14	223	362	646
Apr 15-21	251	406	786
Apr 22-28	226	347	744
Apr 29-30	61	82	179
APR	999	1,456	2,905
May 1-7	198	246	483
May 8-14	257	469	752
May 15-21	183	256	426
May 22-28	204	407	817
May 29-31	63	90	132
MAY	905	1,468	2,610
Jun 1-7	224	588	1,021
Jun 8-14	227	658	887
Jun 15-21	170	729	564
Jun 22-28	170	720	775
Jun 29-30	56	127	236
JUN	877	2,822	3,483
Jul 1-7	200	511	622
Jul 8-14	211	577	625
Jul 15-21	225	398	1,000
Jul 22-28	223	549	801
Jul 29-31	65	162	230
JUL	924	2,197	3,278
Aug 1-8	265	951	885
Aug 9-14	178	709	1,152
Aug 15-21	150	348	499
Aug 22-28	179	542	815
Aug 29-31	58	118	289
AUG	830	2,668	3,640
Sep 1-7	168	616	751
Sep 8-14	150	896	662

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Sep 8-14 2014

Province	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded	Types of Attack
Anbar	17	52 30 ISF 3 Sahwa 19 Civilians	116 37 ISF 12 Sahwa 67 Civilians	5 Shootings 2 IEDs 2 Suicide Car Bombs
Babil	7	5 5 Civilians	19 19 Civilians	2 Shootings 3 IEDs
Baghdad	43	85 8 ISF 1 Sahwa 76 Civilians	236 5 ISF 231 Civilians	12 Shootings 23 IEDs 4 Sticky Bombs 4 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Motorcycle Bomb
Basra	8	2 2 Civilians		2 Shootings 1 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs
Diyala	10	5 3 ISF 2 Civilians	10 10 Civilians	4 Shootings 2 IEDs
Karbala	1	3 3 Civilians	12 12 Civilians	1 Car Bomb
Kirkuk	10	9 9 Civilians	6 6 Civilians	5 Shootings 3 IED
Najaf	2	5 5 Civilians	12 12 Civilians	1 IED 1 Car Bomb
Ninewa	15	646 34 ISF 612 Civilians	16 16 Civilians	10 Shootings 14 IEDs
Qadisiyah	3	6 6 Civilians	18 18 Civilians	1 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 1 Sticky Bomb
Salahaddin	34	78 6 ISF 20 Sahwa 52 Civilians	217 12 ISF 205 Civilians	18 Shootings 26 IEDs 3 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Suicide Boat Bomb

The Islamic State (IS) has kept up its intensive car bomb campaign. There were 12 such attacks in the second week of September from the 9^th to 12^th across Anbar, Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Qadisiyah, and Salahaddin leaving 60 dead and 283 wounded. September 8 was the worse day when two were set off in Dhuluiya, Salahaddin leaving 20 killed and 168 injured. The town has been under siege for weeks by IS and shows the tactical use of car bombs by the group. September 11 there were also three bombs in Karbala, Najaf, and Qadisiyah. The last time the south was hit was towards the end of August. IS has been striking the south with these types of attacks about once a month. For the last several weeks the insurgents have been able to carry out car bomb waves with only one to two days in between them, the highest pace seen in years. The huge amounts of explosives that the group captured during the summer are facilitating these attacks. IS has such large stockpile that it will be able to continue with this campaign for the foreseeable future.

Car Bombs In Iraq Sep. 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Sep 1	Baya x2, Baghdad	13	45
Sep 2
Sep 3	Samarra, Salahaddin	7	17
Sep 4	Albu Faraj, Anbar Kadhimiya & Sadoun St, Baghdad Kirkuk, Kirkuk	24	85
Sep 5	Amiriya Fallujah, Anbar Zafaraniya, Baghdad Tikrit, Salahaddin	14	33
Sep 6	Samarra, Salahaddin		4
Sep 7
Sep 8	Dhuluiya x2, Salahaddin	20	168
Sep 9	Saqlawiya, Anbar
Sep 10	Saqlawiya, Anbar New Baghdad & Ghadeer, Baghdad	19	57
Sep 11	Karbala, Karbala Najaf, Najaf Diwaniya, Qadisiyah	14	40
Sep 12	Ghadeer, Baghdad Hammadi Shihab, Salahaddin	7	18
Sep 13
Sep 14
Totals	22	118	467

On the other hand, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) continued with their indiscriminate shelling and air strikes of civilian areas. For the week, there were three days of casualties in Anbar’s Fallujah and one day in Garma caused by government mortar and artillery fire leading to 16 fatalities and 47 wounded. That was far lower than the previous week when 69 people lost their lives and another 120 were wounded in Anbar and Kirkuk governorates. Additionally, there were air strikes on Anbar, Ninewa and Salahaddin in the second week of September that caused 18 dead and 34 wounded. New Premier Haider Abadi announced on September 13 that he was ordering the ISF to stop these attacks upon populated cities and towns. This would be a huge step towards lowering casualties if followed through with, and would also end some of the major complaints made by those living under insurgent control.

Casualties From Government Shelling Sep. 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Sep 2	Fallujah, Anbar	9	33
	Garma, Anbar	2	7
Sep 3	Fallujah, Anbar	13	6
	Garma, Anbar	2	4
Sep 4	Fallujah, Anbar	18	7
	Garma, Anbar	3	9
Sep 5	Fallujah, Anbar	7	34
	Garma, Anbar	3	7
Sep 6	Fallujah Anbar	9	6
	Garma. Anbar	3	7
	Tal Ali, Kirkuk	1	3
Total	10	69	120
Sep 9	Fallujah, Anbar	9	23
	Garma, Anbar	2	8
Sep 12	Fallujah, Anbar	4	16
Sep 13	Fallujah, Anbar	1
Total	4	16	47

Casualties From Government Air Strikes Sep. 2014

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Sep 2	Albu Zarkh & Tamor, Kirkuk Alam, Salahaddin	39	38
Sep 4	Mosul, Ninewa	4
Sep 5	Baiji, Salahaddin	1	8
Sep 6	Hawija, Kirkuk Ajeel, Salahaddin	22	19
Sep 7	Zab, Kirkuk	7	4
Total	8	73	69
Sep 8	Fallujah, Anbar	3	17
Sep 9	Baaj, Ninewa	1	6
Sep 10	Qayara, Ninewa	3
Sep 12	Mosul, Ninewa	10	10
Sep 14	Dhuluiya, Salahaddin	1	1
Total	5	18	34

(Wikipedia)

In Anbar the security forces are attempting to reverse the insurgents’ gains. IS’s move to take Haditha has stalled. The group laid siege to the town for weeks, launching almost daily attacks, but the security forces and tribes there were able to hold them off. The latter are now attempting to go on the offensive with the help of U.S. air strikes. On September 8, the army cleared one district in Haditha aided by the Americans, while the Interior Ministry spokesman said that Barwana, which is just across the Euphrates from Haditha was being cleared of insurgents as well. There are on going security operations in Ramadi and in the western desert around Rawa too, while several tribes in Garma, which is to the east of Fallujah began assisting the security forces there. The problem in Anbar is that the tribes and security forces have cleared areas again and again only to leave them and have the insurgents move right back in. For the week there were 52 killed in Anbar and 116 wounded, down from the 104 dead and 158 injured the week before.

Sadr’s Peace Brigades fighting in Jurf al-Sakhr, Sep 12, 2014 (EFE/EPA)

Northern Babil suffered through more fruitless security operations. September 13, the Babil Operations Command started its latest campaign in Jurf al-Sakhr, which includes militias. It has started more than 10 of these since the start of the year each time claiming success only to begin another one shortly afterward. This new one has about as much chances of success as the previous ones. The Islamic State appears to be firmly in control of the area moving its forces back and forth from neighboring Anbar, while fighting off the ISF in certain areas of the district. There were seven attacks for the week in Babil leading to 5 fatalities and 19 wounded. Like the previous week IS has gone after militiamen killing three and wounding another 8 during the second week of September. In total, there were 5 fatalities and 19 injured from September 8-14 in Babil.

Diyala has also seen some mixed results with its security campaigns. The ISF tried to free the water supply in Baladrooz from IS control, but on September 13 a parliamentarian said that it was inconclusive. The security forces also claimed to have cleared the infamous Hamrin Mountains area, which has been an insurgent hotbed for years. The inability of the ISF to hold the area was shown by the fact that the peshmerga went into Hamrin on September 9. IS has been carrying out retaliatory strikes in the province as well. September 12 it kidnapped 12 ISF and Sahwa members, executing three of them in Muqtadiya. The next day it arrested six tribesmen from the Jabour clan in Sensl. For the week 5 were killed and 10 wounded in the province.

IS is attempting to assert its control over the Hawija district of eastern Kirkuk province. September 11 it kidnapped 20 former Sahwa members and killed three of them. September 13 it held a parade through central Hawija after tribesmen killed two of its fighters. That same day IS executed four people in the Zab area. The Iraqi press reported that sheikhs in Hawija were turning against IS, and thus bringing about these retaliatory attacks. Only 9 people were killed and another 6 wounded during the second week of September.

Ninewa had by far the highest casualties for the week due to the Islamic State carrying out mass killings. September 8 32 people were executed by IS in Mosul and Wadi Hajar. September 10 31 police were executed in the province. Two mass graves were also discovered that day. One in Humaidiyat held the bodies of 500 prisoners from Badush prison, which was taken by IS the day Mosul fell. Another site in Barzak, Zummar had 35 Yazidis in it, another sign of the Islamic State’s attempt to wipe out the religious group. Finally, on September 14 30 people were shot in Tal Afar. The peshmerga continue to clear sections of the province to the north of Mosul. On September 11 the Kurds freed two villages in the Bashiqa area, and eventually took Bashiqa itself on September 13, which is to the northeast of Mosul. Because of the IS murders there were 646 killed compared to only 16 wounded in Ninewa for the week.

Salahaddin continues to see the most fighting in the central section of the governorate. After relieving the siege of Amerli last week, militias and the ISF are now trying to break the IS blockade around Dhuluiya. Militias are also trying to clear the villages surrounding Amerli. Like in other provinces IS is also trying to intimidate the population. It kidnapped 23 people in Samra and Dujail on September 9. September 11 it blew up 20 houses of ISF members in Shirqat. That same day a mass grave with 30 bodies was found in Sulaiman Bek. September 13 it also made an assault upon Baiji Refinery, which it failed to take during the beginning of its summer offensive. The insurgents remain in firm control of much of the northern section of the province despite its setback in Amerli. Even if Dhuluiya were to be retaken it would not change the strategic situation in Salahaddin. Relieving the towns stops more massacres, but they are not that important to the militants. There were 78 dead and 217 wounded during the week in the governorate.

SOURCES

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