Security In Iraq Apr 15-21, 2016

Fears of an Islamic State spring offensive subsided the third week of April. The number of incidents and casualties both went down after a two-month spike. On the other hand, the government was still marching through Anbar.

After a two month rise in violence, it decreased the third week of April. The number of incidents went from 144 the first week of the month, to 141 the second, to 124 the third. The number of incidents had been going up since February, but it looks like April will have a lower total given the dip from April 15-21. That seems to have forestalled fears that IS was building up for a spring offensive.

There were 59 attacks in Baghdad, 16 each in Anbar and Ninewa, 14 in Kirkuk, 12 in Diyala, 5 in Salahaddin, and 2 in Babil.

436 people died and 242 were wounded during the week. That included 7 Hashd, 19 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 27 Peshmerga, and 383 civilian deaths, along with 19 Peshmerga, 19 ISF, 29 Hashd, and 175 civilians injured.

The deadliest province was Ninewa with 289 fatalities. That was due to a report of IS executions. After that there were 68 killed in Baghdad, 63 in Anbar, 7 each in Diyala and Kirkuk, and 1 each in Babil and Salahaddin.

The Iraqi Forces are still churning through Anbar. After Hit was liberated last week, the surrounding areas were attacked with several towns freed. Anbar officials were also happy to find Hit not damaged much, which could hasten the return of the population. Outside Ramadi the road from Albu Aetha and Albu Faraj was cleared. The new Garma operation finally got started a week after it was announced. The joint forces have been trying to take the town for more than two years. Finally, the security forces and Hashd are still split on the next move. Reinforcements were sent to both the Ain Assad base and Fallujah. The ISF would like to push west from Hit to the Syrian border, while the Hashd have tried to take Fallujah since July of last year. These dual priorities will continue as there is no unity of command in Anbar.

Two mass graves were discovered in Ramadi. Some 40 bodies were found inside them, a mix of civilians and members of the ISF killed by IS.

After seeing a sharp rise in violence, the number of incidents in Baghdad finally went down. From April 15-21 there were 59 attacks in the capital province compared to over 60 the previous weeks. The most dangerous sector of the governorate remained the south with 24 attacks including 1 grenade, 1 mortar, 1 sticky bomb, 5 shootings, and 16 IEDs. After that there were 14 incidents in the east, 10 in the north, 8 in the west and 3 in the center. Attacks in the East appear to be more based upon crime, vigilantes and militias than insurgents, while in the south, north and west it is almost all IS activity, especially in the outer towns.

Violence in Baghdad Apr 15-21, 2016

Center: 3 – 1 Robbery, 2 IEDs

East: 10 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Robbery/Shooting, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 IED, 6 Shootings

Outer East: 4 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Shooting, 2 IEDs

North: 5 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Shooting, 2 IEDs

Outer North: 5 – 1 Shooting, 4 IEDs

South: 12 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Shootings, 8 IEDs

Outer South: 12 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 10 IEDs

West: 5 – 1 Kidnapping/Shooting, 4 IEDs

Outer West: 3 – 3 IEDs

At the start of April the Hashd began an effort to take Bashir in southern Kirkuk. That was eventually put on hold, but IS was still attacking the joint forces in the area including several intense clashes that left 1 Hashd dead and 20 wounded along with six car bombs destroyed.

In Ninewa there was a report that the Islamic State had executed 250 women that had refused temporary marriages to members of the group. Another twelve people were executed from April 15-21 in the Mosul area including one reporter and seven former policemen.

Also during the week there were reports that IS fired chemical rockets and mortar shells three times at Peshmerga positions in Ninewa leading to 27 Peshmerga deaths and 21 wounded.

The operation to clear the Makhmour district completely ground to a halt during the week. The town of Nasir, which was supposed to be taken on the first day was still in IS hands, and the militants were launching counter attacks during the week. 300 more soldiers were being sent to the area to try to help move things forward. At the same time, the U.S. used B-52 bombers for the first time to bomb a suspected weapons depot in the area.

The goal of the effort in Makhmour was to stop Islamic State shelling of the several bases in the area. In a related incident, volunteers organized by former Ninewa Governor Atheel Nujafi carried out an attack upon the insurgents to protect their camp in Zilkan supported by Turkish forces. This is the first time this group has seen combat.

Violence remained very low in Salahaddin, but the locations of the few attacks that did occur were important. There were two attacks on the Ajeel and Alas oil fields in the northeast, which are rather routine. There were also four car bombs destroyed in Siniya in the Baiji district, and sniper fire in Tikrit. Every week now there are attacks in those two areas. The attacks in Tikrit have been small, but there have been very large clashes in Baiji. After that district was freed the Hashd led forces moved northeast to the Makhoul mountains. That has allowed IS to move back into the areas previously freed to set up shop again.

On the other hand, the new governor of the province Ahmed Abdullah al-Jabouri complained that there were undisciplined Hashd causing problems. He went on to say that there was a wave of lawlessness in Tikrit with robberies, some of which were due to the Hashd.

There was not a single successful car bombing during the week. In turn, the Iraqi forces claimed they destroyed 19 of the devices. There were 6 in Kirkuk, 5 in Anbar, and 4 each in Ninewa and Salahaddin.

Violence In Iraq 2015-16

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN	911	2,656	3,032 + 150
FEB	730	2,345	2,366
MAR	820	2,665	2,529
APR	751	2,753	2,621
MAY	674	2,565 + 1,499	1,952 + 646
JUN	708	2,153 + 405	2,174
JUL	688	2,716	3,198 + 4,024
AUG	684	2,440 + 760	1,777
SEP	649	1,731	1,668 + 3,003
OCT	589	1,144	1,555
NOV	530	1,174	1,455 + 124 + 1,322
DEC	553	1,155	1,252 + 5,920
Jan 1-7	150	808	421
Jan 8-14	140	436	417
Jan 15-21	135	275	227
Jan 22-28	132	392	322
Jan 29-31	41	81	334
JAN	598	2,052	1,721
Feb 1-7	146	575	313
Feb 8-14	119	146	323
Feb 15-21	130	225	239
Feb 22-29	153	371	690
FEB	549	1,281	1,566
Mar 1-7	183	321	478
Mar 8-14	168	408	415
Mar 15-21	130	349	409
Mar 22-28	135	213	420
Mar 29-31	49	172	121
MAR	665	1,463	1,843
Apr 1-7	144	239	444
Apr 8-14	141	271	391
Apr 15-21	124	436	242

Security By Province Apr 15-21, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	16 Incidents 63 Killed: 5 ISF, 58 Civilians 6 Wounded: 2 Civilians, 4 ISF 6 Shootings 8 IEDs 3 Mortars 5 Suicide Bombers Killed 5 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	2 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 2 Wounded: 2 Civilians 1 IED 1 Sticky Bomb
Baghdad	59 Incidents 68 Killed: 4 Hashd, 4 ISF, 59 Civilians 176 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 13 ISF, 160 Civilians 15 Shootings 35 IEDs 4 Stickby Bombs
Diyala	12 Incidents 7 Killed: 2 ISF, 2 Hashd, 3 Civilians 13 Wounded: 2 ISF, 11 Civilians 7 Shootings 1 IED 2 Mortars
Kirkuk	14 Incidents 7 Killed: 1 Hashd, 6 Civilians 20 Wounded: 20 Hashd 6 Shootings 1 IED 1 Suicide Bomber Killed 3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 3 Car Bmobs Destroyed
Ninewa	16 Incidents 289 Killed: 7 ISF, 27 Peshmerga, 255 Civilians 19 Wounded: 19 Peshmerga 5 Shootings 23 IEDs 1 Rocket 3 Mortars 8 Suicide Bombers Killed 4 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	5 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 6 Wounded: 6 Hashd 4 Shootings 4 Car Bombs Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq Apr, 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Apr 1	Hit, Anbar
Apr 2	Hit, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Apr 3
Apr 4	Baghdadi x2, Anbar Meshada & Taji, Baghdad Basra, Basra Baghdadi, Rashad, Shihabi, Subhait, Anbar – 21 destroyed Abu Ghraib, Baghdad – 2 destroyed Nasir, Ninewa – 6 destroyed Siniya, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed	16	35
Apr 5	New Baghdad, Baghdad Baghdadi & Subhait, Anbar – 9 destroyed Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 1 destroyed Makhmou, Nasir, Ninewa – 13 destroyed	3	14
Apr 6	Kubaisa, Anbar – 3 destroyed Nasir, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Apr 7	160 Kilo, Garma, Hit, Anbar – 7 destroyed Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 3 Destroyed Hardan, Ninewa – 2 destroyed Shirqat-Baiji Road, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Totals	7 – 81 Destroyed	19	49
Apr 8	Hit, Anbar – 10 destroyed Makhmour, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Apr 9	Albu Bali, Anbar Hit & Subhait, Anbar – 6 destroyed	12	2
Apr 10	Bashir, Kirkuk – 3 destroyed Nasir, Ninewa – 1 destroyed Baiji, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Apr 11
Apr 12	Hit, Anbar – 1 destroyed Nasir, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
Apr 13	Makhmour & Nasir, Ninewa – 3 destroyed
Apr 14	Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Totals	1 – 36 Destroyed	12	2
Apr 15
Apr 16	Haj Ali, Ninewa – 4 destroyed
Apr 17	Khasfa, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Apr 18	Bashir & Tel Ahmed, Kirkuk – 5 destroyed
Apr 19	Baghdadi, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Apr 20
Apr 21	Saqlawiya, Anbar – 1 destroyed Bashir, Kirkuk – 1 destroyed Siniya, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed
Totals	0 – 19 Destroyed	-	-

SOURCES

Adel, Loaa, "Coalition aircraft destroy 3 booby-trapped vehicle in Baghdadi," Iraqi News, 4/19/16

- "Jazeera Operations announces killing 4 ISIS militants in Anbar," Iraqi News, 4/17/16

AIN, "14th Brigade: the deaths of 11 Daash in foiled attempt on Saqlawiyah," 4/21/16

- “B-52 giant US aircraft enter the war in Iraq against Daash,” 4/20/16

Alsumaria, "Liberation of the road between al-Bahgdadi-Hit and a local official demanding lifting the siege on Haditha," 4/19/16

Al Forat, "Clearing all the village between Heet and Mohammadi western Anbar," 4/16/16

- "Three car bombs detonated in repelling Daash attack near Bashir," 4/18/16

Al Maalomah, "The arrival of two regiments of the Federal Police to Ain al-Assad base to complete the liberation of western Anbar," 4/17/16

Al Mada, “Free Nineveh Operation without protection and the Americans plan to establish a second base near Sinjar,” 4/20/16

- “Freeing Heet…and people are optimistic because it is less destroyed than Ramadi,” 4/16/16

- “The new governor of Salahuddin talks about the Popular Crowd on his first day after taking office,” 4/16/16

- “Nineveh opeartions opens up new hub for the Liberation of Mosul with new reinforcements to Makhmour,” 4/17/16

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "36 members of ISIS and al-hashed al-Shaabi killed, wounded in southern Kirkuk," Iraqi News, 4/18/16

-"Military reinforcements arrived in Fallujah axes to liberate it from ISIS control," Iraqi News, 4/16/16

- "Security forces cleanse 2 villages south of Heet, 10 ISIS militants killed," Iraqi News, 4/16/16

- "Security forces to liberate and cleanse al-Karma District in 72 hours," Iraqi News, 4/11/16

NINA, "Anbar Operations Forces Foil An Attack To Daash In Anbar," 4/18/16

- "Daash Blow Up Three Police Stations, Executes Seven Policemen In Mosul," 4/20/16

- "Daash executed a photojournalist and his brother west of Mosul," 4/16/16

- "Iraqi Warplane To Target Booby-Trapped Car In Bashir Area," 4/21/16

Sarhan, Amre, "Security forces liberate 3 villages in northern Karma in Anbar Province," Iraqi News, 4/20/16

-"Volunteer forces repel ISIS attack on Bashir area south of Kirkuk," 4/18/16

Shafaq News, "Iraqi police finds 2 mass graves in Islamic State-free Ramadi," 4/20/16

- "Killed 18 Daash terrorists and destroyed four car bombs in Mosul," 4/16/16

Sonawane, Vishakha, "ISIS Executes At Least 250 Women For Refusing 'Temporary Marriage' In Iraq's Mosul," International Business Times, 4/21/16

Sotaliraq, "Foiled Daash attack and destroyed four car bombs west of Baiji," 4/21/16