Monday, September 3, 2018

Violence Remained Steady In Iraq August 2018


The number of incidents and casualties remained basically the same from July to August 2018. There was an average of 6.9 incidents per day during each month, and casualties were 485 dead and wounded in July and 458 in August. The Islamic State continued to rebuild in central Iraq. Baghdad saw a slight uptick in attacks, and Turkey was still hitting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Kurdistan.


There were 214 incidents reported in July and 216 in August. That led to 224 killed and 234 wounded in the latter. That broke down to 2 Turkish soldiers, 29 PKK, 35 Hashd al-Shaabi, 53 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 105 civilians losing their lives, while 2 Turkish soldiers, 56 Hashd, 62 ISF, and 114 civilians were injured. 15 bodies were discovered leaving 209 violent deaths during the month. Overall, casualties have gone down since the start of the year as the Islamic State has been withdrawing and concentrating its forces in the center of the country in its effort to rebuild its insurgency.

Casualties In Iraq By Province July-August 2018
Province
July
August
Anbar
33 (14 K, 19 W)
70 (32 K, 38 W)
Babil
5 (3 K, 2 W)
6 (6 W)
Baghdad
69 (30 K, 39 W)
86 (32 K, 54 W)
Basra
-
2 (1 K, 1 W)
Diyala
63 (38 K, 25W)
49 (19 K, 30 W)
Dohuk
2 (2 K)
1 (1 K)
Irbil
22 (18 K, 4 W)
-
Kirkuk
118 (33 K, 85 W)
39 (13 K, 26 W)
KRG
30 (30 K)
32 (30 K, 2 W)
Muthanna
-
1 (1 W)
Najaf
1 (1 K)
-
Ninewa
87 (78 K, 9 W)
69 (51 K, 18 W)
Salahaddin
55 (20 K, 35 W)
103 (45 K, 58 W)

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province July-August 2018
Province
July
August
Anbar
8
11
Babil
4
3
Baghdad
49
58
Basra
1
4
Diyala
46
44
Dohuk
1
1
Irbil
6
1
Karbala
-
1
Kirkuk
37
32
KRG
7
7
Muthanna
1
1
Najaf
1
-
Ninewa
29
27
Qadisiya
1
-
Salahaddin
23
25
Sulaymaniya
-
1

Anbar remained a secondary front for the Islamic State. There was a suicide car bomb that hit a checkpoint in Qaim in the west that left 56 dead and wounded. The last time there was a successful vehicle bomb in the province was back in January. That being said there were only 11 incidents in Anbar in August and 9 the month before. That was an average of 0.3 per day. The bombing in Qaim was obviously an escalation, but that didn’t change the fact that IS is not concentrating their main effort there anymore.

A similar situation exists in Ninewa. There has been less than one incident per day there since April. While there are occasional infiltration attempts from Syria and a few confrontations with insurgents, but violence remains at a very low level in the governorate.

Violence has been down slightly over the last two months in central Iraq, which has meant Baghdad has led the country in incidents during that period. There were 49 in July and 58 in August. That averaged out to 1.5 and 1.8 per day respectively. Considering the size of the capital province and its population that is barely anything. All the attacks are small in scale as well consisting of a steady diet of shootings and IEDs.

Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahaddin remained the center of the insurgency. The Islamic State is active in all the rural areas of Diyala and Kirkuk and in the center and north in Salahaddin. While the number of incidents has been down in all three since June, the types of attacks point to the group attempting to rebuild. The militants are asserting control of towns and taxing them, and attacking those that don’t cooperate. There are monthly reports of crops being burned, livestock being killed, kidnappings, houses being destroyed, etc. There are also attacks upon checkpoints and local security forces. There are stories of IS being in control of many rural areas at night, and even being out in the open during the day in some places. This is a repeat of the tactics and strategy IS used once before when it was defeated after the Surge, and reformed its cadres. That is also the theme the group is pushing in its propaganda.

It appears that Turkey has finally ended its advance into Kurdistan chasing after the PKK. There has been no news of any movement by Turkish forces for quite some time. They appear to be digging in and expanding their bases, while carrying out a steady stream of air strikes and artillery barrages. That left 28 PKK and 1 civilian dead in August. The PKK carried out one retaliation attack that killed 2 Turkish soldiers and left two more wounded.

Islamic State Activity in Central Iraq 2018
Diyala
Shootings
(Totals)
IEDs/
Sticky Bombs
(Totals)
Gun Battles
Attacks on Checkpoints
Attacks on Mukhtars/
Sheikhs
Kidnappings
Attacks on Towns
Mortars
Suicide Bombers
Car Bombs
Jan
20
24
2
7
-
1
-
6
1
1
Feb
14
13
4
3
-
-
-
-
1
-
Mar
29
21
14
5
1
2
1
5
-
-
Apr
13
18
2
2
-
-
-
2
-
-
May
11
11
1
3
1
1
3
4
1
-
Jun
32
17
5
12
-
1
5
4
-
-
Jul
20
19
2
3
-
2
3
1
-
-
Aug
17
18
2
2
1
1
3
3
-
-

Kirkuk
Shootings
(Totals)
IEDs/
Sticky Bombs
(Totals)
Gun Battles
Attacks on Checkpoints
Attacks on Mukhtars/
Sheikhs
Kidnappings
Attacks on Towns
Mortars
Suicide Bombers
Car Bombs
Jan
13
6
4
1
-
-
-
3
3
1
Feb
21
10
7
3
-
-
-
4
1
-
Mar
22
15
11
2
-
2
1
3
1
1
Apr
18
4
3
1
-
-
8
1
-
1
May
14
28
2
-
2
1
1
4
4
-
Jun
25
12
4
2
-
2
10
6
-
-
Jul
7
20
1
2
-
-
-
-
-
1
Aug
7
20
2
1
2
-
-
2
-
1

Salahaddin
Shootings
(Totals)
IEDs/
Sticky Bombs
(Totals)
Gun Battles
Attacks on Checkpoints
Attacks on Mukhtars/
Sheikhs
Kidnappings
Attacks on Towns
Mortars
Suicide Bombers
Car Bombs
Jan
11
9
8
-
-
-
-
2
-
1
Feb
7
5
1
1
-
2
-
-
-
-
Mar
23
8
9
2
-
3
-
-
1
-
Apr
6
8
2
2
-
-
-
-
1
-
May
14
10
10
1
1
-
-
1
1
-
Jun
15
15
4
1
-
7
-
-
-
1
Jul
9
6

4
-
-
2
1
1
-
Aug
9
15
1
3
-
1
1
1
1
-

(Gun Battles, Attacks on Checkpoints, Attacks on Mukhtars, Attacks on Towns are all subsets of the total number of shootings and IEDs/Sticky Bombs reported)

Security In Iraq 2017-18
Week
Security
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
JAN 2017
719
1,923
4,374
FEB
628
1,891 + 399
2,511 + 1,634
MAR
720
3,504 + 278
3,302 + 2,925
APR
578
2,933
1,955
MAY
528
2,038
1,563
JUN
534
2,038
1,563
JUL
478
1,490
650
AUG
359
1,949
584
SEP
306
728
549
OCT
286
913
865 + 1,700
NOV
296
1,282
425
DEC
261
763
300
Jan 1-7
71
50
66
Jan 8-14
64
62
70
Jan 15-21
68
156
151
Jan 22-28
68
148
66
Jan 29-31
27
23
22
JAN 2018
298
439
(218 Violent
Deaths)
375
Feb 1-7
66
196
67
Feb 8-14
65
63
93
Feb 15-21
59
346
43
Feb 22-28
55
44
72
FEB
245
649
(233 Violent Deaths)
275
Mar 1-7
78
120
84
Mar 8-14
60
84
61
Mar 15-21
67
168
98
Mar 22-28
81
213
61
Mar 29-31
21
26
35
MAR
307
611
(466 Violent Deaths)
339
Apr 1-7
40
174
29
Apr 8-14
64
175
83
Apr 15-21
44
63
72
Apr 22-28
44
62
48
Apr 29-30
12
12
4
APR
204
486
(240 Violent Deaths)
236
May 1-7
51
57
56
May 8-14
56
68
49
May 15-21
39
58
82
May 22-28
51
73
51
May 29-31
21
42
15
MAY
218
298
(273 Violent Deaths)
253
Jun 1-7
55
100
32
Jun 8-14
72
108
88
Jun 15-21
42
83
19
Jun 22-28
52
58
65
Jun 29-30
18
22
14
JUN
239
371
(327 Violent Deaths)
218
Jul 1-7
56
58
91
Jul 8-14
44
57
31
Jul 15-21
54
61
64
Jul 22-28
36
65
21
Jul 29-31
24
26
11
JUL
214
267
(222 Violent Deaths)
218
Aug 1-7
49
57
30
Aug 8-14
47
43
51
Aug 15-21
45
26
45
Aug 22-28
42
29
64
Aug 29-31
33
69
44
AUG
216
224
(209 Violent Deaths)
234

Violence By Province August 2018
Province
Violence
Anbar
11 Incidents
32 Killed
1 Civilian
31 ISF
38 Wounded
8 Civilians
30 ISF

4 Shootings
4 IEDs
1 Suicide Car Bomb
5 Suicide Bombers Killed
1 Motorcycle Bomb Dismantled
Babil
3 Incidents
6 Wounded
6 Hashd

2 IEDs
1 Rocket
Baghdad
58 Incidents
32 Killed
1 ISF
4 Hashd
27 Civilians
54 Wounded
2 ISF
52 Civilians

21 Shootings
16 IEDs
3 Sticky Bombs
3 Sound Bombs
Basra
4 Incidents
1 Killed
1 Civilian
1 Wounded
1 Civilian

1 Shooting
2 IEDs
1 Grenade
Diyala
44 Incidents
19 Killed
5 ISF
14 Civilians
30 Wounded
3 Hashd
8 ISF
19 Civilians

17 Shootings
18 IEDs
3 Mortars
Dohuk
1 Incident
1 Killed
1 Civilian

1 Turkish Air Strike
Irbil
1 Incident

1 Shooting
Karbala
1 Incident

1 IED
Kirkuk
32 Incidents
13 Killed
3 Hashd
5 Civilians
5 ISF
26 Wounded
5 Hashd
10 ISF
11 Civilians

7 Shootings
13 IEDs
2 Sticky Bombs
5 Sound Bombs
1 Suicide Car Bomb
2 Mortars
1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Kurdistan
7 Incidents
30 Killed
2 Turkish Soldiers
28 PKK
2 Wounded
2 Turkish Soldiers

1 Shooting
2 Turkish Air Strikes
Muthanna
1 Incident
1 Wounded
1 Civilian

1 Shooting
Ninewa
27 Incidents
51 Killed
1 Hashd
3 ISF
46 Civilians
18 Wounded
2 ISF
5 Hashd
11 Civilians

9 Shootings
8 IEDs
1 Motorcycle Bomb
1 Turkish Air Strike
2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Salahaddin
25 Incidents
45 Killed
8 ISF
10 Civilians
27 Hashd
58 Wounded
10 ISF
11 Civilians
37 Hashd

9 Shootings
14 IEDs
1 Sticky Bomb
1 Suicide Bomber
1 Mortar
2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Sulaymaniya
1 Incident

1 Shooting

SOURCES

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "UPDATED: Death toll from today's car bomb attack in Anbar rises to 10," Iraqi News, 8/29/18

Iraq Newspaper, "The Iraqi Newspaper Published The Names And Pictures Of Victims Of The Suicide Bombing In Anbar Province 7 Officers And 21 Soldiers Killed And 22 Wounded," 8/29/18

Rudaw, "Update: Car bombing in Iraq's Anbar kills 11, injures 16," 8/29/18

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the data, but why ISIS data for only Central Iraq and not the other provinces?

Joel Wing said...

It doesn't seem like you read the article

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