Violence Continues To Decline In Iraq, Nov 2015

In November 2015 attacks continued to dip in Iraq while the number of casualties was roughly the same as the previous month. These numbers reflect the fact that the Islamic State has been on the defensive for most of the year.

There were 530 security incidents reported in the media during the month. That was an average of 17.6 attacks per day, the lowest of the year. That was down from 18.3 in October, 19.1 in September, 19.8 in August, 19.6 in July, and 20.7 in June. At the start of 2015 IS launched an offensive against the Kurds in northern Iraq, but after that went on the defensive in most of the country. Attacks have steadily gone down as a result with over 800 in January then roughly 600 per month form February to August with March being an exception with 774. Then from September to November there have been around 500 incidents per month.

During November Baghdad was by far the most violent province in the country. There were 229 incidents there, 43% of the total. After that there were 84 in Anbar, 77 in Ninewa and Salahaddin each, 22 in Diyala, 20 in Babil, 15 in Kirkuk, 3 in Basra, and one each in Irbil, Najaf, and Sulaymaniya.

Despite the drop in attacks the number of casualties remained relatively the same between October and November. There were 2,639 dead and wounded in October versus 2,629 in November. The reason why casualties didn’t drop was due to the discovery of several hundred dead Yazidis in mass graves in the Sinjar district of Ninewa. These figures should be considered a minimum because so many dead and wounded are not reported.

Broken down there were 1,174 deaths and 1,455 wounded in November. There were 1 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighter, 2 Yazidis fighters, 2 Sahwa, 44 Hashd, 103 Peshmerga, 156 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 866 civilians killed, and 1 Asayesh, 3 Yazidis, 82 Hashd, 127 Peshmerga, 162 ISF, and 1,080 civilians injured.

By governorate Ninewa had the most fatalities with 608. Baghdad had 301, Salahaddin 100, Anbar 67, Babil 27, Kirkuk 26, Diyala 18, Basra 2, and Najaf 1.

In Anbar most of the reported casualties were in and around Ramadi where major fighting continued to secure the city from the Islamic State. Of the total 67 dead and 107 wounded, 36 killed and 16 injured were in that district. There were another 40 people wounded by IS mortar fire upon Amiriya Fallujah during the middle of the month. There were another 40 casualties in western Anbar in places like Haditha and Rutba, and finally 20 in Fallujah. These numbers are only a fraction of the true losses in the province as the government has been suppressing casualties since the Ramadi-Fallujah offensive began in July.

Babil saw a large decline in casualties from October to November. There were 27 killed and 115 wounded in the latter compared to 27 dead and 57 injured in the former. The difference was due to three car bombs hitting the province in October versus none in November.

In Baghdad violence remained largely the same due to the heavy deployment of forces to protect pilgrims during the Arbaeen ceremony. In November there was 1 motorcycle bomb, 2 car bombs, 5 suicide bombers, 26 sticky bombs, and 116 IEDs along with 2 suicide bombers who were killed and 3 car bombs that were destroyed or dismantled. Those led to 301 dead and 869 wounded. The numbers could have been much higher, but the tight security to protect pilgrims was successful.

Another area that saw a decline in attacks was Diyala. Before IS was setting off car bombs there nearly every week and firing mortars into the center of the province. That’s pretty much ended. In November there was just 1 mortar attack and one attempt at a suicide car bomb that failed. That led casualties to drop from 105 dead and 166 wounded in October to just 18 killed and 35 injured in November.

Kirkuk remained relatively quite. IS did make some probing attacks against the Peshmerga that resulted in 6 dead and 12 injured, but this has become the norm.

There were two rare attacks in the Kurdistan Regional Government. First a sticky bomb wounded a Peshmerga in Sulaymaniya, while a man fired on the Peshmerga Ministry building in Irbil.

Ninewa had the most casualties for the month for three reasons. First, the operation to free Sinjar finally occurred costing the lives of 59 Peshmerga and wounding another 86. Second, in the aftermath several mass graves were discovered with the bodies of 271 Yazidis massacred by IS. More such grizzly finds are likely to emerge in the coming days and weeks. Finally, the Islamic State executed 182 people mostly in Mosul. In total, there were 608 killed and 163 wounded in Ninewa for the month.

IS continued attacks up and down Salahaddin. Towns like Taji and Tarmiya in the south just outside of Baghdad remained a favorite target with 25 dead and 69 wounded there. There were mopping operations in the Baiji area and an on going offensive to the north in places like the Makhoul Mountains that left 38 killed and 67 injured. Likewise there has been fighting outside for Samarra for several weeks now that resulted in 8 deaths and 19 wounded. Finally, Tuz Kharmato exploded in ethnic violence between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen plus there was an IS car bombing to exploit these divisions that caused a total of 27 fatalities and 38 wounded.

IS’s car bomb campaign entered its seventh month. There were a total of 155 vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) in November. Only 9 found their targets with the rest being destroyed or dismantled beforehand. Anbar led the country with 99 VBIEDs only one of which was successful. There were another 37 in Salahaddin, 21 in Ninewa, 5 in Baghdad, and one each in Diyala and Kirkuk.

Violence In Iraq By Week 2015

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	205	466	464
Jan 8-14	176	733	518
Jan 15-21	193	403	528
Jan 22-28	197	492	899
Jan 29-31	91	306	568
JAN	862	2,400	2,977
Feb 1-7	159	408	688
Feb 8-14	178	443	566
Feb 15-21	175	592	383
Feb 22-28	178	391	730
FEB	690	1,834	2,367
Mar 1-7	186	373	595
Mar 8-14	156	398	656
Mar 15-21	170	1,304	505
Mar 22-28	186	273	406
Mar 29-31	76	205	219
MAR	774	2,553 + 4	2,381 + 150
Apr 1-7	130	218	422
Apr 8-14	140	674	531
Apr 15-21	175	729	717
Apr 22-28	167	497	483
Apr 29-30	51	162 + 7	182 + 299
APR	663	2,280	2,335
May 1-7	159	627	450
May 8-14	161	420	549
May 15-21	128	963	387
May 22-28	115	341 + 1,499	348
May 29-31	38	66	164 + 646
MAY	601	2,417 + 1,499	1,898 + 646
Jun 1-7	133	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 + 58	189 + 106
JUN	623	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	193 + 260	203 + 400
JUL	608	2,158	3,079 + 4,024
Aug 1-7	154	650 + 760	298
Aug 8-14	133	756	640
Aug 15-21	135	345	354
Aug 22-28	136	342	296
Aug 29-31	59	112	169
AUG	617	2,205 + 760	1,757
Sep 1-7	139	285	352
Sep 8-14	144	368	394
Sep 15-21	123	323	488
Sep 22-28	128	190	258
Sep 29-30	39	106 + 19	147 + 8
SEP	573	1,291 + 314	1,647 + 3,003
Oct 1-7	105	291	398
Oct 8-14	144	254	389
Oct 15-21	142	208	279
Oct 22-28	129	216	366
Oct 29-31	49	110	116 + 1
OCT	569	1,079	1,549
Nov 1-7	125	186	316
Nov 8-14	121	265	354
Nov 15-21	140	358	420
Nov 22-28	107	289	261 + 124 + 1,322
Nov 29-30	37	52 + 24	103 + 1
NOV	530	1,174	1,455 + 124 + 1,322

Security By Province Nov 2015

Province	Nov
Anbar	84 Incidents 67 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 24 Civilians, 38 ISF 107 Wounded: 2 Hashd, 42 ISF, 63 Civilians 28 Shootings 6 IEDs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 8 Mortars 35 Suicide Bombers Killed 2 Suicide Motorcycle Bombs Destroyed 66 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 32 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	20 Incidents 27 Killed: 2 Hashd, 4 ISF, 21 Civilians 57 Wounded: 4 ISF, 4 Hashd, 49 Civilians 5 Shootings 10 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber 2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Baghdad	229 Incidents 301 Killed + 24: 1 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 21 ISF, 299 Civilians 869 Wounded: 9 Hashd, 46 ISF, 814 Civilians 52 Shootings 116 IEDs 26 Sticky Bombs 1 Motorcycle Bomb 5 Suicide Bombers 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Car Bomb 2 Mortars 1 Grenade 2 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed 2 Car Bombs Destroyed
Basra	3 Incidents 2 Killed: 2 Civilians 2 Shootings 1 Sound Bomb
Diyala	22 Incidents 18 Killed: 3 Hashd, 6 ISF, 9 Civilians 35 Wounded: 7 ISF, 27 Civilians 8 Shootings 4 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Motorcycle Bomb 1 Mortar 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed
Irbil	1 Incident 1 Shooting
Kirkuk	15 Incidents 26 Killed: 1 ISF, 6 Peshmerga, 19 Civilians 22 Wounded: 4 ISF, 7 Civilians, 12 Peshmerga 8 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 4 Suicide Bombers 1 Car Bomb
Najaf	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Ninewa	77 Incidents 608 Killed: 1 PKK, 2 Yazidi Fighters, 62 ISF, 96 Peshmerga, 447 Civilians 163 Wounded: 3 Yazidi Fighters, 46 Civilians, 114 Peshmerga 39 Shootings 8 IEDs 8 Suicide Bombers 1 Suicide Car Bomb 2 Car Bombs 4 Mortars 3 Rockets 29 Suicide Bombers Killed 18 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	77 Incidents 100 Killed: 1Peshmerga, 24 ISF, 31 Hashd, 44 Civilians 200 Wounded: 1 Asayesh, 59 ISF, 66 Hashd, 74 Civilians 46 Shootings 62 IEDs 3 Suicide Bombers 2 Suicide Car Bombs 1 Mortar 29 Suicide Bombers Killed 6 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 29 Car Bombs Destroyed
Sulaymaniya	1 Incident 1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga 1 Sticky Bomb

Car Bombs In Iraq, November 2015

Date	Location	Dead	Wounded
Nov 1	Subhait, Anbar – 1 destroyed Obied, Baghdad – 1 destroyed Rabia, Ninewa – 1 destroyed
Nov 2	Balad, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Nov 3	Dibis, Kirkuk West of Ramadi, Anbar – 5 destroyed Leine, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed		3
Nov 4	Hardan, Ninewa Adil & Rashad, Anbar – 9 destroyed	1	15
Nov 5	Zankura, Anbar – 1 destroyed Siniya, Salahaddin – 7 destroyed
Nov 6	Baiji, Salahaddin Albu Faraj & Jeraishi, Anbar – 4 destroyed Sukker, Salahaddin – 13 destroyed	7	20
Nov 7	Albu Hayat – 9 destroyed
Totals	3 – 53 Destroyed	8	38
Nov 8	Sadr City, Baghdad Albu Hayat, Anbar – 1 destroyed Mkeshivh, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	6	21
Nov 9	Albu Faraj, Anbar – 1 destroyed Samarra, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Nov 10
Nov 11
Nov 12	Fallujah, Anbar – 6 destroyed Sinjar, Ninewa – 6 destroyed
Nov 13	Niamiya & Subhait, Anbar – 7 destroyed
Nov 14	Sinjar, Ninewa Albu Faraj, Anbar – 2 destroyed Mandali, Diyala – 1 destroyed Harden, Ninewa – 3 destroyed	2	23
Totals	2 - 30 Destroyed	8	44
Nov 15	Albu Faraj & Jeraishi, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Nov 16	Haraym, Ninewa 5 Kilo, Albu Faraj, Zaytoun, ?, Anbar – 10 destroyed Haraym, Ninewa – 1 destroyed	12	20
Nov 17	5 Kilo & Jeraishi, Anbar – 9 destroyed Raood Bridge, Baghdad – 1 destroyed Makhoul Mts, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed
Nov 18	Albu Faraj, Anbar – 4 destroyed Bashiqa, Ninewa – 1 destroyed Massoud & Mkeshivh, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed		12
Nov 19	Albu Faraj, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Nov 20	Albu Faraj, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Nov 21	Mosul Dam, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Totals	1 – 50 Destroyed	12	32
Nov 22	Albu Faraj & Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Nov 23	5 Kilo, Ramadi, Subhait, Anbar – 9 destroyed Amiriya, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Nov 24	Albu Dujail & north of Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Nov 25	Madain, Baghdad South of Baiji, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed	2	8
Nov 26	Haditha, Anbar – 1 destroyed Salam, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Nov 27	Jubba, Anbar	17
Nov 28	Tuz Kharmato, Salahddin	8	22
Totals	3 – 17 Destroyed	27	30
Nov 29	Albu Faraj, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Nov 30	Tuz Kharmato, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Totals	0 – 5 Destroyed	-	-
Grand Total	9 – 155 Destroyed	55	144