Security In Iraq Sep 8-14, 2017

Violence in Iraq remained at a very low level for the second week of September 2017. There were few reported security incidents, but casualties were very high due to a large car bombing in southern Iraq, and bodies being recovered from the rubble in Mosul.

From September 8-14, 2017, there were only 79 incidents mentioned in the press. That broke down to 25 in Baghdad, 24 in Ninewa, 9 in Diyala, 5 in Salahaddin and Anbar each, 4 in Babil, 3 in Kirkuk, 2 in Dhi Qar, and 1 each in the Kurdistan and Sulaymaniya.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Sep 8-14, 2017

KRG 1

Sulaymaniya 1

Dhi Qar 2

Kirkuk 3

Babil 4

Anbar 5

Salahaddin 5

Diyala 9

Ninewa 24

Baghdad 25

Despite the low number of incidents there were a very large number of dead and wounded. There were a total of 412 killed and 176 wounded. That was led by 251 casualties in Ninewa, 177 in Dhi Qar, 70 in Baghdad, 26 in Anbar, 23 in Babil, 18 in Diyala, 16 in Salahaddin, 4 in the Kurdistan, and 3 in Kirkuk.  A total of 4 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), 19 Hashd al-Shaabi, 19 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 370 civilians lost their lives with another 2 ISF, 12 Hashd and 162 civilians being injured.

Casualties In Iraq By Province Sep 8-14, 2017

Kirkuk 3 (2 Killed, 1 Wounded)

KRG 4 (4 Killed)

Salahaddin 16 (13 Killed, 3 Wounded)

Diyala 18 (12 Killed, 6 Wounded)

Babil 23 (14 Killed, 9 Wounded)

Anbar 26 (16 Killed, 10 Wounded)

Baghdad 70 (19 Killed, 51 Wounded)

Dhi Qar 177 (84 Killed, 93 Wounded)

Ninewa 251 (248 Killed, 3 Wounded)

There were only 5 incidents reported in Anbar during the week. The Islamic State executed 12 people in the Qaim district in western Anbar. An air strike was also blamed for killing three civilians and wounding 10 in Ana. The week was not one where IS was much active in the province.

Northern Babil remained a new target of the insurgents. The main event was a suicide car bombing and attack upon a checkpoint in Musayib, which is the seat of the Jurf al-Sakhr district. The attack left 14 people dead and 3 wounded. IS has made its return to the governorate after being absent for months. The vehicle bomb was the latest sign that they are planning large scale operations there once again.

The start of September was marked by heavy security in Baghdad for the Eid holiday, but afterward violence in the province climbed back up. There were 17 incidents the first week of the month, followed by 25 the second week. These were still historically low figures for what was once the deadliest area of Iraq with up to 10 incidents per day and regular triple digit casualty figures. There was a slight shift in where violence was heaviest. Usually north and south Baghdad have the most incidents because IS still has a presence in the outer towns. September 8-14 however was slightly different with 6 incidents in the south, but also 6 in the east.

Another sign that the Islamic State is attempting to renew its insurgent cells was a rare car bombing in Dhi Qar. In Nasiriya, a group of insurgents hit a restaurant with gunfire and a suicide bomber. A few moments later, a suicide car bomb hit a checkpoint. In total, there were 84 fatalities and 93 injured. In September, a suicide bomber hit Karbala, and a car bomb was destroyed. In June, another suicide bomber detonated his device in that province, but the last time a vehicle bomb went off in the south was in Basra in May. Such operations need in depth planning, facilities, and networks to transport the cars through the various checkpoints. Hitting the south also has symbolic significance as it shows the insurgents can reach the Shiite heartland. So far these have been sporadic, but they show new determination by IS.

Diyala is one of the other provinces where the militants are making a comeback. This week was no different. There were two large attacks with multiple suicide bombers. There were also several shootouts. Again, these were all signs that the Islamic State was trying to return to an insurgency now that it was losing its last bits of territory in the country. Months before, there were only IEDs and drive bys. Now IS is being more bold and throwing its forces at checkpoints and at the security forces.

Kirkuk have been relatively quiet for weeks, and then the Islamic State began a series of attacks upon the Peshmerga. That halted the second week of September. There were only 3 incidents. One was a shootout with the Kurds, but the others were a drive by and a body found.

Every few days Turkey shells or bombs PKK positions in northern Iraq. Rarely are casualties reported, but there was an exception with 4 PKK fighters losing their lives at the hands of Turkish jets.

With no major military operations going on the media finally started reporting on Mosul and Ninewa once again. There was a spate of attacks there during the week. These to the west and east of Mosul, and within the city itself. Some of these were pitched battles with large numbers of suicide bombers. A mass grave with 50 bodies was discovered in Ayadiyah outside Tal Afar, and the civil defense forces reported recovering 176 bodies from the rubble in Mosul.  Those largely accounted for the 248 dead in the governorate. The incidents also showed that IS is active across Ninewa, although at very low levels.

Salahaddin is the other area where IS is attempting a comeback. There were three shoot-outs and several power towers were blown up. That was not many attacks, but the type was an escalation from what it was before.

Finally, in Chamchamal someone shot at the Kurdistan Democratic Party offices. That might have been a local political dispute or connected to the heated rhetoric over the upcoming Kurdish referendum scheduled for later in September.

Security In Iraq 2017

Week	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	188	509	1,346
Jan 8-14	168	371	1,036
Jan 15-21	137	585	1,262
Jan 22-28	145	289	310
Jan 29-31	74	127	338
JAN	712	1,881	4,292
Feb 1-7	123	388	176
Feb 8-14	164	434	390
Feb 15-21	148	393	508
Feb 22-28	185	647 + 399	1,390 + 1,634
FEB	620	1,862 + 399	2,464 + 1,634
Mar 1-7	179	749	622
Mar 8-14	171	551	614
Mar 15-21	143	571	1,166
Mar 22-28	152	1,233	575
Mar 29-31	71	374 + 278	288 + 2,925
MAR	716	3,478 + 278	3,265 + 2,925
Apr 1-7	174	903	487
Apr 8-14	126	599	669
Apr 15-21	108	479	449
Apr 22-28	122	698	328
Apr 29-30	39	138	51
APR	569	2,817	1,984
May 1-7	106	405	468
May 8-14	109	601	386
May 15-21	132	363	224
May 22-28	106	433	150
May 29-31	69	214	236
MAY	522	2,016	1,464
Jun 1-7	136	1,403	487
Jun 8-14	127	658	174
Jun 15-21	114	480	101
Jun 22-28	119	340	246
Jun 29-30	37	349	127
JUN	533	3,230	1,135
JAN-JUN	3,669	15,262 + 677	14,497 + 4,559
Jul 1-7	141	798	331
Jul 8-14	105	298	86
Jul 15-21	87	124	72
Jul 22-28	107	189	122
Jul 29-31	37	50	25
JUL	477	1,459	636
Aug 1-7	80	143	188
Aug 8-14	88	955	124
Aug 15-21	73	97	100
Aug 22-28	85	674	132
Aug 29-31	31	30	40
AUG	357	1,958	1,261
Sep 1-7	62	68	73
Sep 8-14	79	412	176

Violence By Province Sep 8-14, 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	5 Incidents 16 Killed 1 ISF 15 Civilians 10 Wounded 10 Civilians 2 IEDs
Babil	4 Incidents 14 Killed 1 ISF 13 Civilians 9 Wounded 3 Civilians 6 Hashd 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar
Baghdad	25 Incidents 19 Killed 1 Hashd 1 ISF 17 Civilians 51 Wounded 2 Hashd 2 ISF 47 Civilians 3 Shootings 12 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Motorcycle Bomb 2 Mortars
Dhi Qar	2 Incidents 84 Killed 84 Civilians 93 Wounded 93 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Suicide Car Bomb
Diyala	9 Incidents 12 Killed 2 Civilians 4 Hashd 6 ISF 6 Wounded 3 Hashd 3 Civilians 5 Shootings 1 IED 1 Mortar 1 Rockets
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 2 Killed 1 ISF 1 Civilian 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 3 Shootings
KRG	1 Incident 4 Killed 4 PKK 1 Turkish Air Strike
Ninewa	24 Incidents 248 Killed 1 Hashd 9 ISF 238 Civilians 3 Wounded 1 Hashd 2 Civilians 18 Shootings 2 IEDs 128 Suicide Bombers    Arrested/Killed 2 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	5 Incidents 13 Killed 13 Hashd 3 Wounded 3 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 IED
Sulaymaniya	1 Incident 1 Shooting

SOURCES

AIN, "The Peshmerga foiled a terrorist attack in Daquq," 9/9/17

Associated Press, "Isis suicide attack: more than 80 killed in southern Iraq," 9/15/17

Baghdad Post, "4 civilians killed, injured by mortars in Diyala," 9/13/17

Bas News, "Armed Men Open Fire at KDP Branch Office in Chamchamal," 9/11/17

BBC, "Iraq: At least 50 die in twin attacks near Nasiriya," 9/14/17

Al Ghad Press, "Dhi Qar: The final outcome of the attacks amounted to 60 dead and wounded, including dozens of Iranian visitors," 9/14/17

- "Killed and wounded in car bombing in Musayib," 9/13/17

Iraq Newspaper, "Announced the Killing of 10 Soldiers And Hashd From The Tigris Operations Command: We Killed 60 Daesh Including An Emir," 9/9/17

- "Iraqi Newspaper: 13 Members Of The Popular Crowd Killed In An Attack With Grenades In The Balad District North Of Baghdad," 9/14/17

Al Mirbad, "Interior: Four terrorists killed and a policeman killed north Babylon," 9/13/17

Al Mayadeen, "14 martyrs in a car bomb explosion in Musayib north Babil," 9/13/17

Mostafa, Mohamed, "Islamic State execute 5 among families caught fleeing Anbar," Iraqi News,9/13/17

- "Islamic State executes seven people over cooperation with security," Iraqi News, 9/11/17

- "Mass grave with 50 relics found near Tal Afar," Iraqi News, 9/8/17

- "Paramilitary forces repel Islamic State attack near Salahuddin shrine," Iraqi News, 9/8/17

- "Unidentified warplanes kill, wound 13 civilians in western Anbar," Iraqi News, 9/14/17

- "Updated: Over 100 persons killed, injured in Islamic State attack in Dhi Qar," Iraqi News, 9/14/17

NINA, "4 Terrorists Killed, 3 Civilians Injured In Two Incidents In Kirkuk," 9/11/17

- "Four members of the PKK killed by Turkish fighter jets in northern Iraq," 9/11/17

- "Gunmen Kill A Policeman And Injure A Civilian In Kirkuk," 9/11/17

- "The PMF Kill 7 Members Of Daesh North Of Salahuddin," 9/12/17

- "A source in the Civil Defense announced the removal of more than 170 bodies of victims of crimes of Daesh from under the rubble on the right side of Mosul," 9/8/17

Rudaw, "Four Kurds within Shiite forces killed in clashes with ISIS," 9/9/17

Al Sumaria, "Aborted armed attack on a joint security checkpoint in northeastern Diyala," 9/13/17

- "The body of a man was found shot dead south Kirkuk," 9/8/17

- "A civilian was killed by warning fire by the Peshmerga in Diyala," 9/14/17

- "Foiled an attack and dismantled an explosive device northeast Diyala," 9/13/17

- "In pictures .. What is behind the bombing of Musayib," 9/13/17

- "Source: The bodies of Daesh members fill one of the valleys of Diyala, including an Emir," 9/9/17

Xinhua, "Iraqi forces kill 6 suicide bombers in operation in eastern Iraq," 9/9/17