Security In Iraq Jan 15-21, 2019

(Iraqi News)

Iraq was relatively quiet during the third week of January 2018. There were few incidents and few casualties. The Islamic State has been operating at a very low level since the winter. Turkey on the other hand continued with its weekly strikes against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

There were only 22 security incidents reported in Iraq from January 15-21. Four of those were not related to the Islamic State. Kirkuk led the country with 8 incidents followed by 6 in Diyala. There were also three Turkish air strikes in northern Kurdistan targeting the PKK.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21
Anbar	6	3	2
Babil	-	1	-
Baghdad	3	4	2
Diyala	5	7	6
Kirkuk	10	7	8
KRG	1	2	3
Ninewa	3	3	-
Salahaddin	4	5	1
TOTALS	32	32	22

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21
Anbar	4 (1K, 3)	30 (4K, 26W)	2 (2W)
Babil	-	2 (2W)	-
Baghdad	3 (3K)	3 (3K)	2 (2K)
Diyala	2 (2W)	3 (1K, 2W)	10 (6K, 4W)
Kirkuk	16 (2K, 14W)	11 (5K, 6W)	13 (3K, 10W)
KRG	7 (7K)	3 (3K)	6 (6K)
Ninewa	3 (3K)	69 (69K)	-
Salahaddin	6 (1K, 5)	29 (12K, 17W)	-
TOTALS	41 (17K, 24W)	150 (97K, 53W)	33 (17K, 16W)

There were a total of 33 casualties during the week. 17 people lost their lives including 2 Hashd al-Shaabi, 4 civilians, 5 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 6 PKK. Another 16 people were wounded made up of 4 ISF, 5 civilians, and 7 Hashd. Kirkuk had the most casualties with 13 followed by 10 in Diyala.

The Islamic State has largely pulled out of Anbar and Baghdad resulting in few attacks there. In the former there was only one incident by the insurgents when a car bomb was discovered and dismantled in Fallujah. The other incident was caused when someone threw a grenade at the house of a family associated with IS in the Hit district and left two people wounded. These types of revenge attacks are quite common throughout central and northern Iraq as the militants left a deep wound in Iraqi society. People linked with IS have been banned from certain areas, detained and assaulted as a result. In the capital province there were two shootings that were likely the work of the Islamic State that left 2 people killed. Since the fall there has been a sharp decline in incidents in both provinces marking IS’s withdrawal from those areas.

Central Iraq remains the area where the insurgency is most active. There were no incidents in Ninewa during the week, and only one in Salahaddin, but 6 incidents in Diyala and 8 in Kirkuk. In Diyala there were three attacks upon checkpoints, two policemen’s houses were burned, and a town was hit by mortar fire. Half the attacks took place in the Khanaqin district in the northeast. A local mukhtar claimed that people had fled 20 villages in that area due to IS attacks. IS moved into Khanaqin after the federal government took over from the Kurds in the wake of the independence referendum because there are not enough forces deployed there and a lack of coordination between them. The other incidents were in the center of the governorate. In Kirkuk, two people were kidnapped and three houses of Hashd members were blown up with IEDs. The rural districts of these provinces are where IS has been rebuilding for the last year or more. There is little government presence there allowing the militants room to regroup and carry out operations. They have gone after local officials and the security forces to assert their control, and taxed villages to raise money.

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-19

Anbar	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Mortars/ Rockets	Kidnappings	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
Jan 2018	8	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	1
Feb	3	8	1	-	-	-	-	1	-
Mar	6	15	3	2	-	1	1	-	-
Apr	1	5	1	-	-	-	-	3	-
May	2	7	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
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	1	3	-	-	1	-	1	-	-
Dec	1	4	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Jan 2019	3	2	1	-	1	-	-	1	1

Diyala	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 2018	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	17	13	5	2	1	1	4	4	-	-
Dec	15	10	3	3	-	1	1	2	-	-
Jan 2019	11	1	2	3	-	-	-	4	-	-

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 2018	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	7	7	2	-	-	2	-	1	-	-
Dec	8	6	-	-	1	3	1	2	-	-
Jan 2019	7	17	-	3	-	1	-	2	-	-

Ninewa	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
Jan 2018	18	8	7	1	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	19	7	8	1	-	1	-	1	-
Mar	20	6	7	1	-	1	-	-	-
Apr	8	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
May	11	6	6	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	9	7	2	1	-	-	3	-	1
Dec	8	6	1	-	3	1	-	-	1
Jan 2019	3	-	-	-	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 2018	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	5	7	2	2	-	1	-	1	-	2
Dec	4	-	2	1	-	1	-	1	-	-
Jan 2019	4	2	2	1	-	3	-	-	-	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)

Suicide-Car Bombs In Iraq 2018-19

Month	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs	Totals
Jan	7 (1- Diyala, 3 – Baghdad/Baghdad, 3 - Kirkuk)	6 (1- Anbar, 1 – Diyala, 1 – Kirkuk, 1 – Salahaddin, 2 - Babil)	13
Feb	4 (1 – Anbar/Ramadi 1 – Diyala 1 – Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	-	4
Mar	2 (1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk 1 - Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Kirkuk)	3
Apr	4 (1 - Salahaddin 3 – Anbar)	1 (1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk)	5
May	8 (1 – Diyala 1 - Salahaddin) 2 – Baghdad/1 - Baghdad 4 - Kirkuk)	-	8
Jun		1 (1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	1
Jul	1 (1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	1 (1 – Kirkuk/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/Fallujah 1 – Salahaddin)	3 (1 – Anbar/Fallujah 1 – Kirkuk/Kirkuk 1 - Ninewa)	5
Nov	-	3 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul 2 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	3
Dec	-	1 (1 – Ninewa)	1
Jan	1 (1 – Anbar)	2 (1 – Anbar 1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	3

Security In Iraq 2018-19

Week	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN 2018	265	417 (196 Bodies Found)	366
Feb 1-7	58	192	62
Feb 8-14	57	58	91
Feb 15-21	53	343	43
Feb 22-28	46	38	70
FEB	214	631 (215 Violent Deaths)	266
Mar 1-7	68	115	79
Mar 8-14	52	75	59
Mar 15-21	64	165	98
Mar 22-28	77	210	61
Mar 29-31	19	26	34
MAR	280	591 (446 Violent Deaths)	331
Apr 1-7	38	172	27
Apr 8-14	60	173	81
Apr 15-21	43	63	72
Apr 22-28	40	60	39
Apr 29-30	12	14	4
APR	193	482 (236 Violent Deaths)	223
May 1-7	45	52	55
May 8-14	55	68	49
May 15-21	35	55	80
May 22-28	49	72	51
May 29-31	16	39	15
MAY	200	286 (261 Violent Deaths)	250
Jun 1-7	50	96	29
Jun 8-14	67	107	88
Jun 15-21	40	82	19
Jun 22-28	45	53	62
Jun 29-30	17	21	14
JUN	219	359 (315 Violent Deaths)	212
Jul 1-7	50	56	90
Jul 8-14	42	56	31
Jul 15-21	50	59	63
Jul 22-28	29	61	19
Jul 29-31	23	25	11
JUL	194	257 (212 Violent Deaths)	214
Aug 1-7	43	49	30
Aug 8-14	43	38	44
Aug 15-21	38	24	40
Aug 22-28	35	25	61
Aug 29-31	27	68	43
AUG	186	204 (189 Violent Deaths)	218
Sep 1-7	38	44	54
Sep 8-14	48	63	127
Sep 15-21	44	90	70
Sep 22-28	36	22	27
Sep 29-30	9	19	29
SEP	175	237 (179 Violent Deaths)	307
Oct 1-7	54	85	92
Oct 8-14	43	161	41
Oct 15-21	54	87	35
Oct 22-28	24	24	53
Oct 29-31	23	10	24
OCT	198	367 (177 Violent Deaths)	245
Nov 1-7	32	75	36
Nov 8-14	39	111	19
Nov 15-21	30	51	29
Nov 22-28	26	36	30
Nov 29-30	9	4	27
NOV	136	276 (183 Violent Deaths_	141
Dec 1-7	22	21	11
Dec 8-14	22	15	22
Dec 15-21	23	23	17
Dec 22-28	30	24	37
Dec 29-31	15	225	4
DEC	112	308 (96 Violent Deaths)	91
Jan 1-7	32	17	24
Jan 8-14	32	97	53
Jan 15-21	22	17	16

Violence By Province Jan 15-21, 2019

Province	Violence
Anbar	2 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 Civilians 1 Grenade
Baghdad	2 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Civilians 2 Shootings
Diyala	6 Incidents 6 Killed 2 Hashd 4 ISF 4 Wounded 4 ISF 5 Shootings 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	8 Incidents 3 Killed 1 ISF 2 Civilians 10 Wounded 3 Civilians 7 Hashd 2 Shootings 6 IEDs
Kurdistan	3 Incidents 6 Killed 6 PKK 3 Turkish Air Strikes
Salahaddin	1 Incident 1IED

SOURCES

Al Alam TV, "The killing of PKK members in Turkish raids in northern Iraq," 1/21/19

Baghdad Post, "Aborted attempt to detonate a car bomb in central Fallujah," 1/20/19

- "Civilian killed by armed attack north of Baghdad," 1/16/19

- "Three houses in a village in Kirkuk are bombed," 1/15/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "3 policemen injured in armed attack by Islamic State on Iraqi checkpoint," Iraqi News, 1/15/19

- "Unidentified gunmen shoot Iraqi civilian dead in Baghdad," Iraqi News, 1/21/19

Al Forat, "Death of a second policeman by sniper fire in Diyala," 1/21/19

Al Maalomah, "Two civilians were wounded in an armed attack with a grenade on a Daesh house, west of Ramadi," 1/18/19

NINA, "2 Policemen Killed In A Terrorist Attack On A Security Post Northeast Of Baquba," 1/20/19

- "Daesh kidnapped two civilians south of Kirkuk," 1/17/19

- "A Terrorist Arrested, 3 Mortar Shells Land In A Village East Of Baquba," 1/20/19

- "Two elements of the popular crowd killed in a clash with Daesh terrorists north of Baquba," 1/20/19

Ali, Sangar, “Villagers around Iraq’s Khanaqin, Jalawla evacuate as ISIS attacks increase,” Kurdistan 24, 1/18/19

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