Security In Iraq, Dec 8-14, 2017

Violence remained extremely low during the second week of December. There were just 56 incidents reported in the media. That was the 18^th full week with fewer than 100 incidents.

That resulted in 135 deaths and 115 wounded. 50 of the dead however were from a mass grave in Ninewa. There were 2 casualties in Basra, 4 in Diyala, 5 in Kirkuk, 10 in Babil, 18 in Anbar, 29 in Kurdistan, 42 in Baghdad, 54 in Salahaddin and 86 in Ninewa.

The fatalities consisted of 11 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 18 Hashd al-Shaabi, 29 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and 77 civilians. There were also 6 ISF, 11 Hashd, and 98 civilians that were injured.

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

Kurdistan 1

Basra 2

Babil 3

Kirkuk 5

Anbar 6

Salahaddin 7

Diyala 8

Ninewa 11

Baghdad 13

Casualties In Iraq By Province Dec 8-14, 2017

Basra 2 (2 Killed)

Diyala 4 (2 Killed, 2 Wounded)

Kirkuk 5 (1 Killed, 4 Wounded)

Babil 10 (4 Killed, 6 Wounded)

Anbar 18 (9 Killed, 9 Wounded)

Kurdistan 29 (29 Killed)

Baghdad 42 (6 Killed, 36 Wounded)

Salahaddin 54 (8 Killed, 46 Wounded)

Ninewa 86 (74 Killed, 12 Wounded)

At the start of the week Prime Minister Haidar Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State. A Hashd commander claimed that the Iraqi forces were in full control of the Iraq-Syrian border in Anbar as well. Unfortunately, the premier’s announcement meant that the Jazeera operation to clear the vast desert in the province was cut short. Local officials complained that there were still IS elements in Jazeera and called for constant pressure in the area to keep the militants off balance. This was supposed to be the last major campaign by the government forces to suppress the militants’ hideouts that they had been using for years. Political expediency meant that it was called off. Otherwise violence has been very low in Anbar. There were just 6 incidents, almost all of which were IEDs, although there was an attack upon the Walid border post.

Baghdad only witnessed 13 incidents during the week. For the last several months attacks have ranged from single digits to around 20 per week. These are some of the lowest figures seen since the 2003 invasion.

Politicians in Diyala continued to complain that IS was moving back and forth along the border with Salahaddin. The mayor of Khalis told the press that insurgents were terrorizing people and trying to recruit in the rural areas. This has been going on for months. The security forces’ occasional sweeps have not been able to retard IS’s efforts because they only go through an area and then leave allowing insurgents to escape and then return. The militant presence led to an increase in violence during the summer, but that has since subsided. There were just 8 incidents the second week of December. One was a shootout with insurgents in Qara Tappa, but the rest were all small in scale.

Kirkuk was the opposite. The number of attacks there remained low at 5 for the week, but the type was more important. Twice the Counter Terrorism Services were hit, three Hashd were also kidnapped, and five suicide bombers were discovered during a raid who killed themselves. Those show targeted and more sophisticated activities by the militants.

Turkish raids upon Kurdistan continued. 29 PKK fighters were said to have been killed in an air strike.

Rural Ninewa was another section of Iraq where IS was attempting a comeback. There were 11 incidents. That included one large attack in the west where up to 100 insurgents attacked the security forces, which led to the deaths of 13 Hashd. An IS family also had a grenade thrown at their house leaving 3 wounded, and there was a clash between Yazidis and Arabs in Sinjar.

The insurgents have also been rebuilding in Salahaddin. That led to a car bomb in Tikrit, a suicide bomber in the Samarra district, and one clash in Shirqat.

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
Dec 8-14	56	135	115

Violence By Province Dec 8-14 2017

Province	Violence
Anbar	6 Incidents 9 Killed 2 ISF 3 Hashd 4 Civilians 9 Wounded 2 ISF 7 Civilians 2 Shootings 4 IEDs
Babil	3 Incidents 4 Killed 4 Civilians 6 Wounded 3 Civilians 3 Hashd 2 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb
Baghdad	13 Incidents 6 Killed 1 ISF 5 Civilians 36 Wounded 36 Civilians 3 Shootings 8 IEDs 1 Sticky Bomb
Basra	2 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 IED
Diyala	8 Incidents 2 Killed 1 ISF 1 Civilian 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 3 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	5 Incidents 1 Killed 1 Civilian 4 Wounded 4 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 Mortar 1 Rocket 5 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kurdistan	1 Incident 29 Killed 29 PKK 1 Turkish Air Strike
Ninewa	11 Incidents 74 Killed 7 ISF 13 Hashd 54 Civilians 12 Wounded 4 ISF 8 Civilians 5 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Grenade
Salahaddin	7 Incidents 8 Killed 2 Hashd 6 Civilians 46 Wounded 8 Hashd 38 Civilians 2 Shootings 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Car Bomb 2 Mortars

SOURCES

Baghdad Post, "6 civilians killed, injured by car-bomb explosion in Tikrit," 12/9/17

- "Blast in Mosul wounds 3," 12/13/17

Douglas, C., "Unidentified gunmen attack Iraqi military headquarters in Kirkuk," Kurdistan 24, 12/8/17

Al Ghad Press, "Mortar shells landed on the headquarters of the anti-terrorism services north Kirkuk," 12/13/17

Iraq Newspaper, "Iraqi Newspaper Daash Terrorists Kill Two Of The Mahdi Army in Samarra and Capture Three Others," 12/14/17

Al Maalomah, "The popular crowd thwarted Daash and killed five of them in Diyala," 12/13/17

Al Mada, “Anbar is looking for secret underground kingdom,” 12/14/17

Mostafa, Mohamed, "Mass grave with relics of 50 people found in Nineveh's Sinjar," Iraqi News, 12/13/17

- ”Official: life paralyzed at Diyala village as Islamic State snipers shoot on,” Iraqi News, 12/13/17

- "Three Islamic State militants killed, attack foiled in Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 12/12/17

Mostafa, Nehal, "Eight security personnel killed, injured in suicide attack, northwest of Samarra," Iraqi News, 12/15/17

- "Thirteen security personnel killed in clashes with IS members, west of Mosul," Iraqi News, 12/13/17

- “Turkmen mobilization forces blow up Kurdish civilian’s house in Salahauddin,” Iraqi News, 12/14/17

NINA, "29 PKK Militants Killed By Turkish Air Strikes In Northern Iraq," 12/12/17

- "Security Forces Kill 3 Terrorists While The Fourth Blew Himself Up On The Left Side Of Sharqat," 12/12/17

- "Three members of the popular crowd kidnapped south of Kirkuk," 12/12/17

- “URGENT…The PMF Announces The Completion Of Military Operations And Full Control of Iraqi-Syrian Border,” 12/9/17

Rudaw, "Five ISIS blow themselves up during Hashd raid near Kirkuk," 12/9/17

Al Sumaria, "Aborted attack by Daash on border guards headquarters north of Walid crossing," 12/8/17

- "Armed clashes between Yazidis and an Arab tribe after the killing of two aides near Sinjar," 12/13/17

- “Diyala reveals the infiltration of Dash into villages along the Salahaddin border,” 12/10/17

Zavis, Alexandra, “Iraq’s prime minister declares victory in war against Islamic State,” Los Angeles Times, 12/9/17