Security In Iraq Nov 1-7, 2018

(Getty)

Since the fourth week of October 2018, incidents have been down in Iraq. That was true for the start of November. Despite the low number of attacks there was a car bomb in Salahaddin, which showed that the Islamic State was attempting more mass casualty bombings after a large dip during the summer.

There were just 38 incidents reported in Iraq from November 1-7. From October 22-28 there were 31 incidents after high numbers in the weeks before. Baghdad again led the country again with 11 incidents during the week.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province Nov 1-7, 2018

Kurdistan 1

Kirkuk 6

Ninewa 6

Salahaddin 6

Diyala 8

Baghdad 11

Casualties In Iraq By Province Nov 1-7, 2018

Kirkuk 5 (3 K, 2 W)

Kurdistan 6 (6 K)

Diyala 15 (5 K, 10 W)

Salahaddin 17 (3 K, 14 W)

Baghdad 30 (10 K, 20 W)

Ninewa 53 (53 K)

80 people were reported dead and 46 wounded. 1 Peshmerga, 6 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), 8 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 65 civilians lost their lives, and 3 Peshmerga, 8 ISF, and 35 Civilians were injured. Ninewa had the most with 53, but that was because of a mass grave and another collection of bodies being found. That meant there were 35 violent deaths during the week.

As usual, most of the Islamic State’s activity was in the center of the country. There were 8 incidents in Diyala, 6 in Kirkuk and 6 in Salahaddin. In Diyala, the militants attacked a village in the Buhriz district, attacked a checkpoint and were two shoot outs with the security forces. In Kirkuk, two electrical towers were blown up and a mukhtar was killed in the Hawija district in the south. 2 Peshmerga were kidnapped, with one found dead in Dibis, and a raid by the Counter-Terror forces in Kirkuk city led to a gun battle. Finally, in Salahaddin the governor escaped an IED on his motorcade on the Tikrit-Baiji highway, there were two exchanges of gun fire with the security forces and Peshmerga, and a car bomb went off in Shirqat in the north by a school. These are the routine types of incidents that now occur in these three provinces. IS is going after infrastructure like electricity towers, local officials like mukhtars, challenging the security forces, and now using suicide and car bombs more often.

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	-	-
Sep	20	12	5	1	-	2	5	5	-	-
Oct	11	22	2	-	1	1	-	4	-	-
Nov	4	3	2	1	-	-	1	-	-	-

Kirkuk	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Mortars/ Rockets	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
Sep	14	25	2	2	1	3	4	2	-	-
Oct	16	29	1	4	4	1	4	2	-	1
Nov	2	2	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-

Salahaddin	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Mortars/ Rockets	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	-
Sep	5	10	1	1	-	-	1	1	3	1
Oct	2	9	1	-	-	1	-	1	1	-
Nov	2	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	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)

There were no incidents in Anbar, a rarity. There are still very few attacks there each week, but IS has become bolder there with the types of operations they are carrying out. That was probably because of the large increase in Iraqi forces in the province along the Syrian border. 20,000 Hashd were deployed there because of IS advances on the other side.

Islamic State Activity in Anbar 2018

Anbar	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
Jun	4	3	2	-	-	1	-	-
Jul	3	5	1	-	-	-	-	-
Aug	4	4	2	1	-	-	-	1
Sep	3	8	-	-	-	-	2	-
Oct	9	5	3	1	1	2	1	1
Nov	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Ninewa is another province IS has picked up its attacks. It attacked an army base in the west that left 6 soldiers dead. A car bomb was also destroyed. 15 bodies were discovered in the Old City in West Mosul, which is still largely in rubble. 30 more bodies were found in Badush including parliamentary candidates that were taken by the Islamic State and disappeared after its initial takeover of most of the province in 2014.

Islamic State Activity in Ninewa 2018

Ninewa	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
Jun	7	2	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
Jul	9	9	1	1	1	1	2	-	-
Aug	9	9	2	-	-	1	1	-	-
Sep	8	3	2	-	-	-	-	1	-
Oct	13	5	-	1	-	1	-	-	1
Nov	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)

As stated before, there was a car bomb in Salahaddin. At the start of the year, there was still a lot of residual violence as IS was transitioning back to an insurgency. That eventually levelled off and there were very few suicide or car bombs during the summer. In June for example, there was just 1 mass casualty bombing, with 2 in July, and 3 in August. Then in September that jumped to 8 with another 5 in October. This is another sign that the militants are becoming bolder and launching more sophisticated operations.

Suicide-Car Bombs In Iraq 2018

Month	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs	Totals
Jan	7 (1- Diyala, 3 – Baghdad, 3 - Kirkuk)	6 (1- Anbar, 1 – Diyala, 1 – Kirkuk, 1 – Salahaddin, 2 - Babil)	13
Feb	4 (1 – Anbar 1 – Diyala 1 – Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	-	4
Mar	2 (1 – Kirkuk 1 - Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Kirkuk)	3
Apr	4 (1 - Salahaddin 3 – Anbar)	1 (1 – Kirkuk)	5
May	8 (1 – Diyala 1 - Salahaddin) 2 – Baghdad 4 - Kirkuk)	-	8
Jun		1 (1 – Salahaddin)	1
Jul	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Kirkuk)	2
Aug	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	2 (1 – Anbar, 1 – Kirkuk)	3
Sep	6 (1 – Ninewa) 2 – Anbar 3 – Salahaddin)	2 (1 – Kirkuk 1 – Salahaddin)	8
Oct	2 (1 - Anbar 1 – Salahaddin)	3 (1 – Anbar 1 – Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	5
Nov	-	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	1

Finally, there were two more Turkish air strikes in northern Kurdistan aimed at the PKK. 6 of its members lost their lives as a result. Since early in 2018, Ankara has picked up its harassing attacks upon the Kurdish group resulting in weekly air strikes.

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
Sep 1-7	45	46	61
Sep 8-14	57	67	127
Sep 15-21	50	93	71
Sep 22-28	47	27	33
Sep 29-30	11	20	29
SEP	210	253 (195 Violent Deaths)	321
Oct 1-7	60	88	94
Oct 8-14	50	169	48
Oct 15-21	56	88	37
Oct 22-28	31	28	54
Oct 29-31	25	10	24
OCT	222	383 (193 Violent Deaths)	257
Nov 1-7	38	80	46

Violence By Province Nov 1-7, 2018

Baghdad	11 Incidents 10 Killed 10 Civilians 20 Wounded 20 Civilians 4 Shootings 3 IEDs 2 Sticky Bombs
Diyala	8 Incidents 5 Killed 1 ISF 4 Civilians 10 Wounded 4 ISF 6 Civilians 4 Shootings 3 IEDs
Kirkuk	6 Incidents 3 Killed 1 Peshmerga 2 Civilians 2 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 ISF 2 Shootings 2 IEDs
Kurdistan	1 Incident 6 Killed 6 PKK 2 Turkish Air Strikes
Ninewa	6 Incidents 53 Killed 7 ISF 46 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Salahaddin	6 Incidents 3 Killed 3 Civilians 14 Wounded 3 ISF 3 Peshmerga 8 Civilians 2 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Car Bomb

SOURCES

Agence France Presse, "Daesh kills 3 Iraq village chiefs in a week: officials," 11/3/18

Bas News, "Abducted Peshmerga Found Dead in Kirkuk," 11/3/18

- "Iraqi Governor Survives Assassination," 11/1/18

- "IS Attacks Iraqi Police in Khanaqin," 11/3/18

- "IS Cuts Power Supply to Kirkuk's Hawija," 11/3/18

- "IS Kills Six Iraqi Troops in Mosul," 11/3/18

- "Mosul: Mass Grave of Former Parliament Candidates Discovered," 11/7/18

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Five Iraqis, including three pupils, injured in bomb blast near Iraqi school," Iraqi News, 11/4/18

- "Three IS leaders killed in clashes with Iraqi security forces in Diyala," Iraqi News, 11/7/18

Al Ghad Press, "3 killed and a security member wounded in an armed clash in the Thar Thar Valley in Salahaddin, "11/1/18

Gundogan, Baris, "Turkish jets 'neutralize' 6 terrorists in northern Iraq," Infosurhoy, 11/2/18

Iraq Newspaper, "Daesh Terrorists Killed Mukhtar Village Of Mahmudiya, Abdullah Al-Wassami And Injuring His Son In Hawija," 11/3/18

NINA, "4 Night Guards Killed And Wounded By An Attack Of Daesh Near, Northeast Of Baquba," 11/4/18

- "15 bodies were found inside the old Mosul area," 11/2/18

- "Car Bomb Foiled West Of Mosul," 11/6/18

- "Foil attack to Daesh south of Baquba," 11/3/18

Rudaw, “Iraq-Syria border is secure, ISIS not a threat, says Ministry of Defence,” 11/8/18

Shafaaq News, "Anti-Terrorism Force clashed with wanted men in Kirkuk and officer wounded," 11/3/18

Sotaliraq, "Peshmerga forces wounded in clashes with Daesh near Tuz Kharmato," 11/1/18

Al Sumaria, "Two electricity towers blown up in Hawija district in Kirkuk," 11/1/18