Violence In Iraq, August 2016

Violence had been on a decline throughout 2016, even with the Islamic State’s spring offensive, but that was reversed in August. Attacks finally climbed upward driven by a renewed wave of bombings in Baghdad, counter attacks in Ninewa and Kirkuk, and a new wave of executions by the militants to maintain their control over the last remaining areas of their caliphate in Iraq.

There were 574 incidents in August 2016. That was up from 530 the month before. At the same time it was the second lowest amount recorded so far in 2016, but did reverse the decline in attacks seen throughout the year. Increases in violence were seen in Anbar, Baghdad and Ninewa.

There were a reported 1,263 dead and 1,376 wounded during the month. 11 Sahwa, 21 Hashd, 43 Peshmerga, 134 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 1,054 civilians were killed, and 8 Asayesh, 12 Sahwa, 46 Peshmerga, 51 Hashd, 159 ISF, and 1,100 civilians were injured. The deadliest provinces were Baghdad, 387, Ninewa 330, and Kirkuk 318. At the other end of the spectrum, political violence occurred in Basra, Dohuk, and Irbil that led to a total of two killed, and two wounded.

In August, there was heavy fighting in Khalidiya Island between Ramadi and Fallujah in Anbar, while the Islamic State was also attacking in the west around the Syrian border area and Haditha. That led to an almost doubling of security incidents from an average of 1.2 per day in July to 1.9 in August. A total of 138 people ended up dying and 74 more were wounded. Of the deceased, 55 were blamed on a Coalition air strike, and the Islamic State executed another 30.

There were just 12 incidents in Babil. Those were a mixture of kidnappings and IEDs. For months now there has been very little insurgent activity in the governorate.

Violence had been going down in the capital province for the last five months, but spiked in August. The number of average attacks per day went from 8.9 in both June and July to 10.1 in August. That killed 387 people and wounded 1,023. Three car bombs and four suicide bombers hit Baghdad costing the lives of 18 people and injuring 55. That was only a small fraction of the total casualties. The 31 sticky bomb and 159 IEDs took a far heavier toll, regularly hitting commercial districts to take the highest human tolls. As IS has been thrown on the defensive, it has turned to striking the capital more and more to undermine the government and to keep it in the headlines.

In previous months IS had doubled its activities in Diyala, but in August there was a downturn. From May to July there were around 2 incidents per day, but in August there was only an average of 1 per day. That casualties in half as well with 23 killed and 17 wounded in August compared to 53 dead and 52 injured in July. Almost all of the incidents were in Baquba and to the areas to the east and north.

There were two rare terrorist attacks in southern Iraq. A group of suicide bombers were able to infiltrate into Karbala leaving 18 dead and 28 wounded. A car bomb was also intercepted at a checkpoint in Muthanna killing 2 police and injuring another 5.

There was an explosion of deaths in Kirkuk. Advancing government forces has led to an exodus from the Hawija district in the southern section of the governorate. In turn, IS has killed more and more civilians in an attempt to stop the outflow. Of the 318 fatalities in August, 271 were people who were either executed or killed trying to flee the grips of the militants.

Ninewa saw a jump in violence due to three factors. First, the government continued its push into Qayara leading to counter attacks by IS. Second, there were continued attacks upon the Peshmerga lines. Third, the militants upped their executions to maintain their control over their territory. 162 people were killed by the Islamic State, and another 40 were found in an IS prison and mass graves. Another 54 ISF and 38 Peshmerga died and 15 ISF and 37 Peshmerga were wounded in fighting. That led to a total of 330 deaths and 115 injured for the month.

Security incidents continued on their downward trend in Salahaddin. There were just 25 in August with 40 dead and 48 wounded. That was the fewest recorded attacks of the year. 34 of the casualties were displaced people attempting to escape the Islamic State.

In Sulaymaniya suicide bombers were intercepted in two separate occasions wounding 8 members of the Kurdish security forces.

In August there were 10 successful car bombs. None of them caused many casualties as they were either aimed at the security forces or detonated at checkpoints before they could reach civilian areas. The government claimed it destroyed another 97. Those figures are routinely exaggerated as part of the authorities’ propaganda efforts. Broken down by province there were 2 successful car bombs in Anbar, with 12 destroyed. 3 in Baghdad, and 2 truck bombs dismantled. 1 suicide car bomb in Diyala, and 1 dismantled. 1 in Muthanna. 3 suicide car bombs in Ninewa and 70 destroyed, and 12 wiped out in Salahaddin.

Violence In Iraq 2016

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	179	866	476
Jan 8-14	168	560	480
Jan 15-21	166	400	335
Jan 22-28	154	457	361
Jan 29-31	56	135	334
JAN	723	2,418	1,986
Feb 1-7	184	626	355
Feb 8-14	150	259	375
Feb 15-21	162	400	293
Feb 22-29	161	400	701
FEB	657	1,685	1,724
Mar 1-7	185	351	484
Mar 8-14	169	477	517
Mar 15-21	133	419	510
Mar 22-28	141	245	432
Mar 29-31	53	192	152
MAR	681	1,684	2,095
Apr 1-7	157	398	508
Apr 8-14	146	361	443
Apr 15-21	130	531	300
Apr 22-28	165	480	532
Apr 29-30	31	65	121
APR	629	1,835	1,904
May 1-7	164	386	422
May 8-14	147	407	687
May 15-21	127	387	617
May 22-28	150	315	445
May 29-31	85	142	313
MAY	673	1,637	2,484
Jun 1-7	177	592	1,639
Jun 8-14	136	345	472
Jun 15-21	154	416	523
Jun 22-28	123	329	410
Jun 29-30	40	429	3,405
JUN	630	2,111	6,449
Jul 1-7	120	589	635
Jul 8-14	129	242	316
Jul 15-21	123	168	272
Jul 22-28	115	234	366
Jul 29-31	43	95	119
JUL	530	1,328	1,708
Aug 1-7	109	342	255
Aug 8-14	121	176	245
Aug 15-21	155	388	392
Aug 22-28	134	269	312
Aug 29-31	55	88	172
AUG	574	1,263	1,376

Security By Province August, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	59 Incidents 138 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 32 ISF, 101 Civilians 74 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 14 Hashd, 14 Civilians, 44 ISF 21 Shootings 10 IEDs 1 Sound Bomb 2 Suicide Car Bombs 5 Mortars 1 Poison Gas Attack 40 Suicide Bombers Killed 3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 9 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	12 Incidents 4 Killed: 4 Civilians 7 Wounded: 1 ISF, 6 Civilians 2 Shootings 7 IEDs
Baghdad	315 Incidents 387 Killed: 8 Sahwa, 15 Hashd, 41 ISF, 323 Civilians 1,023 Wounded: 10 Sahwa, 32 Hashd, 87 ISF, 894 Civilians 79 Shootings 159 IEDs 31 Sticky Bombs 4 Suicide Bombers 3 Car Bombs 3 Mortars 7 Grenades 7 Suicide Bombes Killed 2 Truck Bombs Dismantled
Basra	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 ISF 2 Wounded: 1 ISF, 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Diyala	34 Incidents 23 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 3 ISF, 16 Civilians 17 Wounded: 5 Hashd, 5 Civilians, 7 ISF 19 Shootings 10 IEDs 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar 1 Car Bomb Dismantled
Dohuk	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Irbil	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Kirkuk	45 Incidents 318 Killed: 3 Peshmerga, 315 Civilians 55 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Peshmerga, 50 Civilians 21 Shootings 10 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Rockets 2 Mortars 1 Suicide Bomber Captured
Karbala	1 Incident 18 Killed: 18 Civilians 28 Wounded: 28 Civilians 1 Shooting 2 Suicide Bombers 1 Grenade
Ninewa	Muthanna 1 Incident 2 Killed: 2 ISF 5 Wounded: 5 Civilians 1 Car Bomb
Ninewa	77 Incidents 330 Killed: 38 Peshmerga, 54 ISF, 238 Civilians 109 Wounded: 15 ISF, 37 Peshmerga, 57 Civilians 34 Shootings 51 IEDs 4 Suicide Bombers 3 Suicide Car Bombs 5 Mortars 4 Rockets 13 Suicide Bombers Killed 19 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 51 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	25 Incidents 40 Killed: 1 ISF, 2 Peshmerga, 37 Civilians 48 Wounded: 2 ISF, 6 Peshmerga, 40 Civilians 11 Shootings 6 IEDs 2 Mortars 3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 9 Car Bombs Destroyed
Sulaymaniya	2 Incidents 8 Wounded: 8 Asayesh 2 Suicide Bombers

Car Bombs In Iraq Aug 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Aug 1	Shirqat, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed
Aug 2	Hadhar & Qayara, Ninewa – 15 destroyed
Aug 3	Tarmiya, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Aug 4	North of Baquba, Diyala	1	5
Aug 5
Aug 6
Aug 7
Totals	1 – 19 Destroyed	1	5
Au 8
Aug 9
Aug 10	Arab Jabour, Baghdad Qayara Base x3, Ninewa	15	8
Aug 11	Samawa, Muthanna Haj Ali & Hadhar, Ninewa – 6 destroyed	2	5
Aug 12	Albu Assaf & Khalidiya Island, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Aug 13
Aug 14	Azwaip, Anbar – 1 destroyed Khazir, Ninewa – 1 destroyed
Totals	5 – 10 Destroyed	17	13
Aug 15
Aug 16	Ramadi Dist, Anbar Hit, Anbar – 2 destroyed Qaraqoush, Ninewa – 1 destroyed		4
Aug 17	Bab al-Sham, Baghdad Baquba, Diyala – 1 destroyed	2	5
Aug 18
Aug 19
Aug 20
Aug 21
Totals	2 – 4 Destroyed	2	9
Aug 22	Jadaa & Qayara, Ninewa – 7 destroyed Makhoul, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Aug 23	Qayara, Ninewa – 23 destroyed
Aug 24
Aug 25	Khalidiya Island, Anbar Arab Jabour, Baghdad Albu Bali & Haditha, Anbar – 3 destroyed	5	10
Aug 26	Shirqat, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Aug 27
Aug 28	Qayara, Ninewa – 10 destroyed Baiji & Zerga, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Totals	2 – 48 Destroyed	5	10
Aug 29	Qayara, Ninewa – 7 destroyed East of Tikrit, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed
Aug 30
Aug 31	Haditha, Anbar – 4 destroyed Arab Jabour, Bahgdad – 1 destroyed
AUGUST	10 – 97 Destroyed	25	37