Security In Iraq Jan 22-28, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

The third week of January 2019 was another relatively quiet one in Iraq. There were few incidents, while casualties were up from the previous week.

There were 27 incidents reported in Iraq from January 22-28. 5 of those were Turkish air strikes on northern Kurdistan. That left 22 attacks by the Islamic State. Diyala had the most incidents with 9 while there were only one each in Baghdad and Ninewa. There have been 20-30 incidents per week since the end of October 2017. That started the Islamic State’s hibernation during the winter.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28
Anbar	6	3	2	4
Babil	-	1	-	-
Baghdad	3	4	2	1
Diyala	5	7	6	9
Kirkuk	10	7	8	3
KRG	1	2	3	5
Ninewa	3	3	-	1
Salahaddin	4	5	1	4
TOTALS	32	32	22	27

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28
Anbar	4 (1K, 3)	30 (4K, 26W)	2 (2W)	9 (5K, 4W)
Babil	-	2 (2W)	-	-
Baghdad	3 (3K)	3 (3K)	2 (2K)	1 (1K)
Diyala	2 (2W)	3 (1K, 2W)	10 (6K, 4W)	15 (3K, 12W)
Kirkuk	16 (2K, 14W)	11 (5K, 6W)	13 (3K, 10W)	3 (2K, 1W)
KRG	7 (7K)	3 (3K)	6 (6K)	19 (19K)
Ninewa	3 (3K)	69 (69K)	-	2 (2K)
Salahaddin	6 (1K, 5)	29 (12K, 17W)	-	18 (4K, 14W)
TOTALS	41 (17K, 24W)	150 (97K, 53W)	33 (17K, 16W)	67 (36K, 31W)

There were 36 deaths and 31 wounded during the week. 6 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 15 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and 15 civilians lost their lives. 1 Asayesh, 15 civilians and 15 ISF were injured as well. Salahaddin had 18 casualties with another 15 in Diyala.

There were four incidents in Anbar. Those were all in the center spread from the Fallujah district to Haditha. In the later, IS executed two farmers, and kidnapped two others. The Islamic State has been relatively quiet in Anbar since the fall, but has been more active there this month.

Baghdad is another province that IS has largely pulled back from. There was only one incident, which was a shooting in Abu Ghraib in the west. The capital used to be the main target for terrorist attacks, but that has not been true for more than a year now.

Central Iraq is where the insurgency is rebuilding. In Diyala there were 9 incidents. That included a town being attacked in Jalawla in the northeast, an army base being hit by mortar fire, and two checkpoints attacked. 6 of those attacks happened in the Abu Saida area in the center-west. In previous weeks most incidents were occurring in Khanaqin in the northeast and Muqtadiya in the center. For example, an official noted that the militants were targeting checkpoints in both districts. Now however Abu Saida is blowing up. On January 22, a local official there said IS was using the area as a base. The next day the district head told the media most of the villages in the south like Mukhisa were under insurgent control and the security forces were constantly threatened. The Diyala police chief denied that claim, and yet on January 24 local residents started a two day sit-in protest over IS violence there. January 25 the head of the Abu Saida security committee reported that the ISF began cutting off roads and would be focusing upon Mukhisa and Abu Karma. That same day a Diyala parliamentarian appealed to the prime minister to secure the district, again naming Mukhisa. The fact that IS are hitting these areas consistently shows a new level of boldness for the insurgency there. In Kirkuk, there were 3 incidents including two mukhtars who were kidnapped and freed by the security forces, and a suicide car bomb in Riyad in the south. That was the third vehicle bomb of the month. There was just one shooting in Ninewa. Finally, there were 4 incidents in Salahaddin. In Shirqat, IS laid an IED that hit a bus full of police. When other security elements arrived they were hit with a second explosion. In total, 3 police were killed, along with 1 civilian and 7 police and 5 civilians were injured. A Salahaddin councilman warned that the insurgents were still in the Hamrin Mountains that straddle the Salahaddin-Diyala border. This is one of the areas IS retreated to when the conventional war with the Iraqi government ended.

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	5	4	1	-	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	17	2	2	5	-	-	1	5	-	-

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	-	3	-	2	-	1

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	4	-	-	-	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	5	5	3	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)	3 (1 – Anbar 1 – Kirkuk 1 – Salahaddin/Tikrit)	4

Security In Iraq 2018-19

Week	Security Incidents	Dead	Wounded
Jan 1-7	62	45	63
Jan 8-14	58	58	70
Jan 15-21	62	151	151
Jan 22-28	59	140	65
Jan 29-31	24	21	21
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
Jan 22-28	27	36	31

Violence By Province Jan 22-28, 2019

Province	Violence
Anbar	4 Incidents 5 Killed 5 Civilians 4 Wounded 4 Civilians 2 Shootings 2 IEDs
Baghdad	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Civilian 1 Shooting
Diyala	9 Incidents 3 Killed 1 ISF 2 Civilians 12 Wounded 1 Asayesh 4 Civilians 7 ISF 6 Shootings 1 IED 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 2 Killed 2 ISF 1 Wounded 1 ISF 1 Suicide Car Bomb
Kurdistan	5 Incidents 19 Killed 4 Civilians 15 PKK 5 Turkish Air Strikes
Ninewa	1 Incident 2 Killed 2 Civilians 1 Shooting
Salahaddin	4 Incidents 4 Killed 1 Civilian 3 ISF 14 Wounded 7 Civilians 7 ISF 1 Shooting 3 IEDs

SOURCES

Anadolu Agency, "Turkish army 'neutralizes' 21 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq," 1/24/19

Baghdad Post, "Civilian killed by armed attack west of Baghdad," 1/28/19

- "Killing and wounding five terrorists and the liberation of Mukhtar Mahalla kidnapped by a federal operation west of Daquq," 1/25/19

Bas News, "Car Bomb Kills Two Iraqi Police Officers," 1/23/19

- "Khanaqin: Kurdish Security Forces Attacked by Unknown Armed Men," 1/27/19

- "[PICTURES]: Couple Assassinated in Mosul," 1/27/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Back-to-back blasts kill 3, wound 11 in Iraq's Salahuddin," Iraqi News, 1/27/19

- "Bomb explosion wounds two Iraqi children in Anbar," Iraqi News, 1/23/19

- "Islamic State kills two Iraqis, kidnaps another in Iraq's Anbar," Iraqi News, 1/28/19

Al Forat, “URGENT Diyala police chief of Euphrates: There is no truth to the fall of the villages of Abu Saida and chasing Daash cells,” 1/23/19

Kurdistan 24, "Six killed, a dozen injured in different attacks in south Mosul," 1/27/19

Al Maalomah, "A civilian and his wife were killed and their children were injured when a roadside bomb exploded in western Anbar," 1/24/19

- "Civilian death of an armed attack in Ramadi," 1/25/19

- “Salahaddin Council reveals new moves by Daesh in Mount Hamrin,” 1/24/19

Al Mirbad, “Muqtadiya: Sniping is a new method for cells to promote the targeting of security points,” 1/28/19

NINA, “Local official in Diyala demands the clearing of agricultural land between Waqf Basin and Abu Saida,” 1/22/19

- “Residents of Abu Kerma village continue their sit-in for the second day in protest against repeated security violations,” 1/25/19

- "Security Forces Thwart An Attack To Daesh, Northeast Of Baquba," 1/25/19

- “Security official: start the implementation of a plan to track the feathers in the groves of Waqf Basin north-east of Baquba,” 1/25/19

- "Three soldiers were wounded by mortar fire northeast of Baquba," 1/26/19

- "Three terrorists were killed and a Mukhtar was released in Hawija district west of Kirkuk," 1/27/19

Shafaaq News, “An appeal from Diyala over constant bombardment: fear, terror and ethnic cleansing,” 1/25/19

- "Five wounded in a raid on a checkpoint in Khanaqin," 1/26/19

- "Urgent: Daesh attacks an Iraqi city, the people and the army are fighting them," 1/24/19

Sotaliraq, "Four civilians killed by Turkish shelling of the Kurdistan region," 1/23/19

- "Seven policemen were killed and wounded in Salahaddin," 1/27/19

Al Sumaria, “Director of Abu Saida area: Most of the villages in the south of the area are under the control of Daesh,” 1/23/19

Xinhua, "4 killed, 8 injured in 2 bomb attacks in central Iraq," 1/27/19