Security In Iraq, Jul 1-7, 2016

The start of July 2016 highlighted the Islamic State’s shift towards insurgency and terrorism. Almost all of the discussion of the war against IS is focused upon how much territory the group is able to hold or lose. That is only half the fight however. The organization prides itself on its resiliency, and is proving that now with mass casualty bombings and high profile attacks. Currently it is re-infiltrating towns in Anbar and Salahaddin, and just executed out one of the deadliest bombings since 2003, while carrying out a complicated attack upon a shrine in Salahaddin.

There were 114 security incidents reported in the press the first week of July. That was the lowest amount of the year. As usual, Baghdad was the most violent province with 65 incidents, with another 14 in Diyala, 9 in Salahaddin, 8 in Kirkuk, 8 in Ninewa, 6 in Anbar, 1 in Babil, 1 in Basra, 1 in Sulaymaniya, and 1 in Wasit.

Those attacks led to 479 dead and 633 wounded. 1 Sahwa, 3 Peshmerga, 3 Hashd, 9 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 463 civilians were killed, and 1 Sahwa, 4 Peshmerga, 8 Hashd, 14 ISF, and 606 civilians were injured. Almost all of those casualties came from the bombing in Baghdad’s Karrada and the assault upon the Shiite shrine in Balad, Salahaddin.

With Fallujah freed violence in Anbar took a large drop. There were only six incidents during the week, all counter attacks by IS against on going government operations. Those included continued sweeps through the Amiriya Fallujah district in eastern Anbar, the Khalidiya Island area between Ramadi and Fallujah, and the towns outside of Ramadi. All of these areas have been contested for almost two years now showing the insurgents ability to re-infiltrate into areas cleared by the government. This will be a constant threat in Anbar and other areas.

The U.N.’s Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Watch continued to be concerned about the Hashd’s mistreatment of displaced civilians from the Fallujah battle. Kataib Hezbollah has been accused of beating and executing displaced men from Saqlawiya. The U.N. and Human Rights Watch have a list of 643 men who were still missing and 49 who had been killed with Anbar sheikhs claiming another 200 people were unaccounted for. Human Rights Watch complained that nothing has been heard from the government’s investigation of these abuses. Any time there is a scandal Baghdad is quick to mention that a committee is created to deal with it, but little ever comes from them as they are usually meant to silence critics rather than do actual work.

Baghdad witnessed the largest bombing in years. A suicide car bomb in Karrada next to a shopping center left 292 dead and 200 wounded. Most of those died from the ensuing fire rather than the actual bomb itself. Afterward the Interior Minister resigned, the head of the Baghdad Operations Command was removed, and the prime minister ordered the removal of the fake bomb detectors from checkpoints in the province. None of those are likely to improve security in the capital. Baghdad has a series of overlapping and competing security forces and intelligence agencies. That is meant to prevent coups, but makes it impossible to protect the governorate at the same time.

Violence In Baghdad, Jul 1-7, 2016

Center: 1 – 1 Suicide Car Bomb

East: 6 – 2 Shootings, 3 IEDs

Outer East: 4 – 4 IEDs

North: 12 – 1 Shooting, 1 Sticky Bomb, 9 IEDs

Outer North: 9 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Suicide Bomber, 1 Suicide Bomber Killed, 2 Suicide Bombers Arrested, 5 IEDs

South: 12 – 1 Suicide Bomber Killed, 1 Mortar, 1 Rockets, 1 Shooting, 8 IEDs

Outer South: 12 – 1 Suicide Bomber, 1 Sticky Bomb, 3 Shootings, 7 IEDs

West: 4 – 1 Rockets, 1 Shooting, 2 IEDs

Outer West: 5 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 4 IEDs

IS continued with its uptick in operations in Diyala. Fortunately the security forces were able to disrupt the major ones dismantling a car bomb, arresting a suicide car bomber, and killing a suicide bomber.

The Makhmour operation in Ninewa was declared over at the end of June, but there was still clearing operations going on. 75% of the villages in the Haj Ali area were declared freed.

Salahaddin witnessed two more major raids. In June IS seized several villages and launched a number of car bombs in the Tuz Kharmato district leaving over 100 casualties. This week they set off a suicide bomber at a mosque in Tuz Kharmato and made an assault upon the shrine in Balad with mortars and 3 suicide bombers dressed as members of the security forces, one of which was killed. 56 people were killed and 74 injured in that latter operation.

The Karrada bombing was the only successful car bomb of the week. The government claimed another 32 were destroyed in Anbar, Diyala, 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
Apr 22-28	160	413	524
Apr 29-30	30	61	121
APR	599	1,420	1,722
May 1-7	160	325	420
May 8-14	141	311	674
May 15-21	121	349	604
May 22-28	142	200	397
May 29-31	83	119	313
MAY	647	1,304	2,408
Jun 1-7	162	389	1,738
Jun 8-14	132	234	461
Jun 15-21	148	352	497
Jun 22-28	119	277	362
Jun 29-30	36	409	125
JUN	598	1,666	6,315
Jul 1-7	114	463	633

Security By Province July 1-7, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	6 Incidents 5 Killed: 1 ISF, 4 Civilians 5 Wounded: 5 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 Mortar 6 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 6 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	1 Incident
Baghdad	65 Incidents 386 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 1 Hashd, 6 ISF, 378 Civilians 529 Wounded: 1 Sahwa, 5 Hashd, 13 ISF, 510 Civilians 8 Shootings 42 IEDs 4 Sticky Bombs 2 Suicide Bombers 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar 2 Rockets 1 Grenade 4 Suicide Bombers Killed/Arrested
Basra	1 Incident 1 IED
Diyala	14 Incidents 5 Killed: 1 Hashd, 4 Civilians 7 Wounded: 1 ISF, 6 Civilians 6 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Arrested 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Kirkuk	8 Incidents 16 Killed: 16 Civilians 7 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga, 6 Civilians 4 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested
Ninewa	8 Incidents 5 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Civilian, 3 Peshmerga 3 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 2 Peshmerga 3 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested  Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	9 Incidents 46 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 44 Civilians 81 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 78 Civilians 6 Shootings 3 Suicide Bombers 1 Mortar 1 Suicide Bomber Killed 2 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 11 Car Bombs Destroyed
Sulaymaniya	1 Incident 1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga 1 Shooting
Wasit	1 Incident 1 Grenade

Car Bombs In Iraq July 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Jul 1	Sheikh Ali, Taloul al-Baj, Salahaddin – 9 destroyed
Jul 2	Khalidiya Island, Anbar – 4 destroyed Tal Skurf, Ninewa – 5 destroyed Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Jul 3	Karrada, Baghdad Jawaanh, Anbar – 3 destroyed	292	200
Jul 4	Khan Bani Saad & north of Baquba, Diyala – 2 destroyed Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Jul 5	Haditha Dist, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Jul 6	Jazeera, Anbar – 3 destroyed Shirqat, Salahaddin - 2 destroyed
Jul 7
Totals	1 – 32 Destroyed	292	200

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, “Iraq interior minister submits resignation after deadly blast,” 7/5/16

AIN, "40 Daash killed in thwarting attack near the Sharqat intersection," 7/6/16

- "Two Daash car bombs destroyed northern Salahuddin," 7/1/16

Faraj, Murtada, “Iraqi PM Fires Head of Baghdad Security After Shrine Attack,” Associated Press, 7/8/16

Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Fallujah Abuses Inquiry Mired in Secrecy,” 7/7/16

Iraqi News, "Albu Obeid in Khalidiya island liberated," 7/2/16

- "Forces foil ISIS attack bid north of Tikrit, gun down 72 fighters," 7/4/16

- "ISIS suicide attack in northern Tikrit foiled, security forces seize heavy weapons," 7/2/16

- "Security forces liberate 3 km of Khalidiya Island, 14 ISIS members killed," 7/2/16

- "Security forces liberate three villages west of Makhmour," 7/3/16

- "Shiite Iraqi paramilitary force kills 15 ISIS fighters in battles south of Fallujah," 7/1/16

Al Maalomah, "The destruction of three suicide car bombs western Anbar," 7/6/16

- "Nine Daash killed north of Ramadi," 7/6/16

Al Mada, “Abadi pulls explosive detection devices and instructs the reorganizing of checkpoints in Baghdad belts,” 7/3/16

- "Clearing one area of Amiriya Fallujah after the escape of Daash without a fight," 7/1/16

- "Foiled Daash attack with seven car bombs in northern Salahuddin," 7/1/16

- "Freed Zankura area and killed 60 Daash members north of Ramadi," 7/5/16

- "The killing of seven Daash members west of Ramadi," 7/5/16

- "Killing six Daash and destruction of three car bomb in battles clearing area west of Ramadi," 7/3/16

- "Nineveh operations announced freeing 75% of the village in Haj Ali vows sudden operations against Daash," 7/1/16

Al Masalah, "Foiled an attempt to detonate two car bombs in Diyala," 7/4/16

Middle East Monitor, "Iraq: Death toll form shrine attack rises to 56," 7/9/16

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "Baghdad Bombing Death Toll Rises To More Than 290," 7/7/16

Rudaw, "20 ISIS militants killed in northern Iraq's Tel Skuf," 7/2/16

Salim, Mustafa and Morris, Loveday, "At least 40 killed as Islamic State suicide bombers attack Shiite shrine in Iraq," Washington Post, 7/8/16

Sotaliraq, "Dead and wounded in suicide bombing in Tuz," 7/1/16

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Zeid condemns ISIL atrocities in Iraq, urges release of hundreds abducted after fleeing Fallujah,” 7/5/16