Security In Iraq, Dec 1-7, 2017

For 17 straight weeks Iraq has had less than 100 security incidents reported per week. During the first seven days of December there were just 59 Incidents the same amount as the last full week of November. There were 252 reported deaths, but 202 of those were from several mass graves in Ninewa, meaning there were only 50 violent deaths and another 61 injured mentioned in the media.

Broken down by province there was 1 incident in Basra, 1 in Sulaymaniya, 2 in Anbar, 2 in Babil, 3 in Salahaddin, 9 in Ninewa, 10 in Kirkuk, 11 in Diyala, and 20 in Baghdad.

That left 2 casualties in Babil, 3 in Sulaymaniya, 8 in Diyala, 10 in Kirkuk, 26 in Anbar, 51 in Baghdad, and 213 in Ninewa. That consisted of 1 Hashd al-Shaabi, 1 Sahwa, 2 Peshmerga, 4 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 244 civilian deaths, along with 3 ISF, 5 Hashd, and 53 civilian wounded.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Dec 1-7, 2017

Basra 1

Sulaymaniya 1

Anbar 2

Babil 2

Salahaddin 3

Ninewa 9

Kirkuk 10

Diyala 11

Baghdad 20

Casualties In Iraq By Province Dec 1-7, 2017

Babil 2 (2 Wounded)

Sulaymaniya 3 (1 Killed, 2 Wounded)

Diyala 8 (4 Killed, 4 Wounded)

Kirkuk 10 (10 Killed)

Anbar 26 (26 Killed)

Baghdad 51 (8 Killed, 43 Wounded)

Ninewa 213 (203 Killed, 10 Wounded)

During the week, there was a pause in the Jazeera Desert operation in western Anbar and Ninewa. 50% of the area was declared cleared and a 100 kilometer berm built along the Iraq-Syrian border. At the same time, forces were reportedly returning home, raising questions of whether the whole region would be secured or not. There is also the larger issue of if the government will maintain a permanent presence there to deny it to the Islamic State. Anbar officials have spoken of their desire for a desert protection force, but it looks less likely Baghdad will follow through.

Speaker of west Anbar, a councilman reported that 70% of Rawa and Qaim were destroyed and a high percentage of Ana as well. That included all the electricity and water stations, and 383 homes. These western towns were the last ones held by the militants in Iraq.

There were just two incidents in the province from December 1-7. One was an IED going off in a booby trapped house that killed 25 people returning to Rawa. These left behind ordinance are a constant threat.

On the one hand, Baghdad was the most violent province in the country with 20 incidents. On the other, it has only averaged 2-3 incidents per day, which is the lowest figures seen since probably 2003. During the week, a suicide bomber was arrested, but all the other incidents were small bombings and two shootings.

The insurgents were back to work in Diyala with 11 incidents. That included two shootings at checkpoints, an IED on the motorcade of a local council head, and two suicide bombers that were killed. Diyala officials continued to warn that IS was active in the rural areas of the province, and the head of the security committee in the provincial council asked for Prime Minister Haidar Abadi to intervene to prevent the situation from getting worse. Security in the governorate is under the control of the Badr Organization, and the premier has little say over its activities.

Another violent area was Kirkuk. The militants were accused of two kidnapping incidents, attacked a village and an ISF patrol. Since the summer there was an uptick in militant activity, but it was still only averaging just around 1 incident per day.

Ninewa was still seeing incidents in Mosul and the rural areas. A car bomb hit a displaced camp in Makhmour killing 3 and wounding 7. Another suicide car bomb was destroyed. In the west, IS was still trying to infiltrate across the Syrian border leading to clashes. Inside Mosul, people continued to be victims of IEDs left behind from the fighting.

Salahaddin is another governorate where IS is moving its forces in and out. During the week though, there were only 3 incidents with no reported casualties. Since Shirqat in the north was freed there has been a decided decrease in attacks in Salahaddin. That also may be due to the cyclical nature of IS activity which rises during the spring and summer, and then goes down.

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	78	412	176
Sep 15-21	91	145	180
Sep 22-28	52	78	104
Sep 29-30	23	25	16
SEP	306	728	549
Oct 1-7	64	64	84
Oct 8-14	72	133	85
Oct 15-21	60	321	449
Oct 22-28	65	372	222 + 1,700
Oct 29-31	25	23	25
OCT	286	913	865 + 1,700
Nov 1-7	72	135	97
Nov 8-14	62	445	64
Nov 15-21	79	138	159
Nov 22-28	59	149	76
Nov 29-30	24	415	29
NOV	296	1,282	425
Dec 1-7	59	252	61

Violence By Province Dec 1-7 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	2 Incidents 26 Killed 1 ISF 25 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 IED
Babil	2 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 Hashd 1 IED 1 Grenade
Baghdad	20 Incidents 8 Killed 1 Hashd 1 Sahwa 6 Civilians 43 Wounded 1 ISF 3 Hashd 39 Civilians 2 Shootings 14 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber     Arrested
Basra	1 Incident 1 IED
Diyala	11 Incidents 4 Killed 1 Civilian 1 ISF 2 Peshmerga 4 Wounded 1 ISF 3 Civilians 4 Shootings 1 IED 1 Grenade 2 Suicide Bombers     Killed
Kirkuk	10 Incidents 10 Killed 1 ISF 9 Civilians 5 Shootings 1 IED 1 Grenade
Ninewa	9 Incidents 203 Killed 1 ISF 202 Civilians 10 Wounded 1 ISF 9 Civilians 1 Shooting 3 IEDs 1 Car Bomb 1 Suicide Car Bomb     Destroyed
Salahaddin	3 Incidents 1 Shooting 2 IEDs 1 Mortar
Sulaymaniya	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Civilian 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 1 Turkish Shelling

SOURCES

Baghdad Post, "3 killed, 7 wounded in Makhmour car bomb," 12/6/17

Bas News, “New Militant Group Emerges in Mandali, East of Diyala: Official,” 12/3/17

- "Suicide Attack Near Mosul Foiled," 12/1/17

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "6 persons killed, injured in two bomb blasts in Baghdad," Iraqi News, 12/3/17

- "Policeman shot dead by sniper in border area between Diyala, Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 12/6/17

Al Ghad Press, "The arrival of 7 victims of the explosion in Makhmour to Irbil," 12/6/17

- "Foiled an attack on a checkpoint northeast of Baquba," 12/2/17

- “President of the Diyala council calls on Abadi to intervene to prevent a security disaster in the province,” 12/3/17

- "Targeting the President of the Mandali Council by an improvised explosive device east of Diyala," 12/1/17

Al Maalomah, "Death of a woman by a bomb explosion in the old city of Mosul," 12/4/17

Al Mada, “The sluggishness of the operations command in Anbar means aborting the desert cleansing,” 12/1/17

Mostafa, Nehal, “70% of western Anbar towns destroyed by war against Islamic State: Official,” Iraqi News, 12/1/17

- "Official: Over 25 persons killed in booby-trapped houses, west of Anbar," Iraqi News, 12/1/17

- "Suicide attacker killed, three foreigners arrested, east of Diyala: Commander," Iraqi News, 12/4/17

NINA, "A Family Of Six Killed By Blowing Up Their House In Mosul," 12/5/17

- "The PMF Foils An Attack Of Daesh And Kills Six Of Its Members West Of Mosul," 12/6/17

- "Two elements of Daesh, one of them a suicide bomber, killed in a military operation east of Baquba," 12/2/17