Thursday, March 30, 2017

Violence In Iraq, March 15-21, 2017


The number of security incidents dipped in Iraq during the third week of March 2017, but casualties remained relatively the same from the week before.

There were 142 incidents reported in the press from March 15-21, down from 170 the week before, and 179 the first week of March. The dip in violence might be a result of the stalemate in the battle for Mosul. The government forces have been stuck in the Old City section of west Mosul for the last few weeks leading to fewer clashes with the Islamic State. The third week of February when the assault upon west Mosul began there were 75 incidents in Ninewa. February 22-28 that went up to 102 incidents, then 108 March 1-7, 104 March 8-14, before going down to 87 Mach 15-21.


There were 560 killed and 1,166 injured during the week. 1 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 6 Hashd, 37 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 514 civilians died, and 2 Hashd, 3 Sahwa, 4 Peshmerga, 9 ISF, and 1,148 civilians were wounded.

Ninewa because of the fight for Mosul was obviously the deadliest province with 479 fatalities, followed by 41 in Baghdad, 26 in Salahaddin, 11 in Diyala, and 3 in Anbar. There were also 997 wounded in Ninewa, 88 in Baghdad, 65 in Salahaddin, 7 in Diyala, 4 in Anbar, 3 in Babil, and 2 in Kirkuk.

There were another series of car bombs in Anbar. Two went off in Hit on two separate days. No casualties were reported in either incident. Five of the other 7 incidents were all in the Hit to Haditha area in the western section of the province.

A stun grenade was thrown at a café in Iskandiriya in northern Babil that wounded 3.

The number of incidents has declined in Baghdad for five weeks straight. There were 42 from February 15-21, going down every week after that until reaching 29 from March 15-21. Despite that decline the number of casualties has remained relatively the same during four of those five weeks. After a three week hiatus a car bomb went off in the capital in Amin in the east that killed 23 and wounded 45, accounting for half of the dead and injured for the week. As usual, the majority of incidents were in the north, 10, and south 10, followed by 6 in the west, 3 in the east, and 0 in the center.

Insurgent activity remained low in Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahaddin. There were 7 incidents in Diyala, 2 in Kirkuk, and 9 in Salahaddin. The Islamic State either still holds territory or is rebuilding in those provinces. Despite that there are not that many attacks, although in Diyala and Salahaddin there are regular attempts at mass casualty bombings. From March 15-21 for example, a car bomb detonated and another was disabled in Tikrit.

Ninewa was obviously the most dangerous province. There were 87 incidents leading to 479 dead and 997 wounded. 25 bodies were found in a mass gave executed by the Islamic State outside of Mosul. There were seven incidents that could have either been mortars, artillery or air strikes coming from the Iraqis or Coalition that left 246 fatalities and 122 injured. The rest were all due to the Islamic State, mostly from mortar fire.

Violence In Iraq 2017
Date
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
Jan 1-7
188
509
1,346
Jan 8-14
168
363
1,044
Jan 15-21
137
583
1,264
Jan 22-28
145
289
310
Jan 29-31
74
127
338
JAN
712
1,871
4,302
Feb 1-7
123
388
176
Feb 8-14
164
433
391
Feb 15-21
145
381
505
Feb 22-28
181
630 + 399
1,386 + 1,634
FEB
613
1,832 + 399
2,458 + 1,634
Mar 1-7
179
749
622
Mar 8-14
170
551
613
Mar 15-21
142
560
1,166

Violence By Province Mar 15-21, 2017
Province
Violence
Anbar
7 Incidents
3 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 ISF
4 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF, 2 Sahwa
1 Shooting
4 IEDs
2 Car Bombs
1 Rockets
Babil
1 Incident
3 Wounded: 3 Civilians
1 Grenade
Baghdad
29 Incidents
41 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 37 Civilians
88 Wounded: 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 2 ISF, 83 Civilians
9 Shootings
17 IEDs
1 Sticky Bomb
1 Car Bomb
1 Grenade
1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Diyala
7 Incidents
11 Killed: 2 ISF, 9 Civilians
7 Wounded: 2 ISF, 5 Civilians
3 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Mortar
Kirkuk
2 Incidents
2 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 1 ISF
4 IEDs
Ninewa
87 Incidents
479 Killed: 4 Hashd, 30 ISF, 445 Civilians
997 Wounded: 3 ISF, 994 Civilians
8 Shootings
15 IEDs
6 Suicide Car Bombs
3 Car Bombs
8 Rockets
18 Mortars
33 Suicide Bombers Killed
1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed
56 Car Bombs Destroyed

SOURCES

Adel, Loaa, "Booby-trapped vehicle explodes in central Hit," Iraqi News, 3/16/17

Airwars, "March 15th-16th: Bab Al Tob area, Central Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"
- "March 16th: Several neighbourhoods in the West of Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"
- "March 17th: Medan neighborhood of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"
- "March 18th: Al Mashahda Quarter of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"
- "March 18th: Serjkhanh neighbourhood of West Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"
- "March 20th 2017: Zanjili neighbourhood, West of Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq"

Faraj, Murtada, "Iraqi officials say Baghdad bombing kills at east 23," Associated Press, 3/20/17

Hennessy-Fiske, Molly, "Unearthing atrocities in Iraq's newest mass grave," Los Angeles Times, 3/14/17, https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2017/03/14/unearthing-atrocities-in-iraqs-newest-mass-graves/

Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: March 20, 2017," 3/20/17

Al Maalomah, "Security forces thwart bombing west Tikrit," 3/18/17

NINA, "Three people were injured in a stun grenade in a café in North of Babylon," 3/15/17

Reuters, "Car bomb kills 8, wounds dozens in Iraq's Tikrit city," 3/15/17

Al Sumaria, "A car bomb exploded west of Ramadi," 3/19/17

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