Security In Iraq Feb 1-7, 2019

(Iraqi News)

Violence remained very low in Iraq during the start of February. Incidents have been hovering between 20-30 per week since the end of October and the first week of February was no different. Casualties were high due to a mass grave in west Ninewa and bodies still being recovered from west Mosul.

From February 1-7 there were 29 incidents reported in Iraq. One incident was by the Hashd and minus the bodies being found in Ninewa there were 25 likely attacks by the Islamic State during the week. Salahaddin had the most with 9 followed by 8 in Diyala.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Feb 1-7
Anbar	4
Babil	1
Diyala	8
Kirkuk	3
Ninewa	4
Salahaddin	9
TOTALS	29

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Feb 1-7
Anbar	3 (2K, 1)
Babil	-
Diyala	7 (3K, 4W)
Kirkuk	2 (1K, 1W)
Ninewa	65 (64K, 1W)
Salahaddin	29 (6K, 23W)
TOTALS	106 (76K, 30W)

There were 76 deaths and 30 wounded during the week. That consisted of 1 Hashd al-Shaabi, 5 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 70 civilians that lost their lives, and 3 Hashd, 4 ISF and 23 civilians that were injured. 60 bodies were found in three different locations in Ninewa. That meant there were just 16 violent deaths. Salahddin had the most casualties with 6 killed and 23 wounded.

Islamic State activity remains at a low level in Anbar, but it is slightly higher than previous months. There were 3 incidents by the group at the beginning of February that included an attack upon a checkpoint and a sheikh’s house being shot up. Rockets were also found aimed at the Ain Assad base on timers, which was blamed upon some unknown Hashd unit as the munitions were Iranian in origin. For years pro-Tehran Hashd groups have talked about expelling the Americans from Iraq, but this is the first time they attempted anything since they fired rockets at the Green Zone in February 2017.

There was a gun battle with insurgents in northeast Babil’s Jurf al-Sakhr district. This used to be IS’s main base in the south. It was cleared however and completely emptied of people none of which have been allowed to return since then as the pilgrimage routes to Najaf and Karbala pass by there. The Babil council even warned that militants were attempting to move back into the district from neighboring Baghdad and Anbar. Attacks there have been in single digits since February 2018, but almost all occur in Jurf al-Sakhr showing that IS members are moving in and out of there.

There were no incidents reported in Baghdad besides the usual violence in the eastern section of the city which is usually criminal and political. IS has largely withdrawn from the capital province and the Baghdad Operations Command has done a good job trying to control the Baghdad Belts consisting of the small towns in the outer regions of the governorate.

Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salahaddin are the main areas IS is rebuilding in. In Diyala there were 8 incidents including a shootout, two infiltration attempts stopped, and two attacks upon checkpoints. Unlike the previous weeks these incidents were spread out between Abu Saida, Buhriz, Khanaqin and Sadiya districts in the west and east. There is supposed to be a new deployment of troops to Khanaqin to try to clear the villages there, which have become a main target since the central government took control of the area from the Kurds. In Kirkuk there were three incidents two of which were IEDs/sticky bombs. One was in Hawija in the south and two in Kirkuk. In Ninewa there was only one attack, which was an assault upon a village, which led to over five casualties. It looks like IS set upon the town and had an IED ready for when the security forces arrived. Finally, Salahaddin had 9 incidents. A bus full of Shiite pilgrims, many from Iran was attacked in Balad. Three men in the Baiji district were kidnapped, and there were two shootouts as well. Overall, attacks have gone down in Ninewa, up in Kirkuk and Salahaddin, and stayed relative the same in Diyala over the last few weeks.

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	6	4	1	-	2	-	1	1	1
Feb	2	-	-	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	21	2	3	8	-	-	1	5	-	-
Feb	7	1	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-

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	8	17	-	4	2	3	-	2	-	1
Feb	-	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	6	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	1	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 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
Feb	3	4	2	-	-	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)

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
Feb	-	-	-

Security In Iraq 2018-19

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	62/60	45	63
Jan 8-14	58/56	58/56	66/63
Jan 15-21	62/59	151	151
Jan 22-28	59/51	140/136	65/63
Jan 29-31	24	21	21
JAN 2018	265/ 250 by IS	417/ 409 by IS (196 Violent Deaths)	366/ 361 by IS
Feb 1-7	58/56	192/141	62/60
Feb 8-14	57	58	91
Feb 15-21	53/52	343	43
Feb 22-28	46/44	38/37	70/68
FEB	214/ 209 by IS	631/ 579 by IS (215 Violent Deaths)	266/ 262 by IS
Mar 1-7	68/64	115/108	79/77
Mar 8-14	52	75	59
Mar 15-21	64/59	165/119	98
Mar 22-28	77/64	210/87	61/60
Mar 29-31	19/18	26/25	34
MAR	280/ 257 by IS	591/ 414 by IS (446 Violent Deaths)	331/ 328 by IS
Apr 1-7	38/34	172/140	27/25
Apr 8-14	60/52	173/136	81/72
Apr 15-21	43/35	63/18	72/70
Apr 22-28	40/31	60/30	39/33
Apr 29-30	12/11	14/11	4
APR	193/ 163 by IS	482/ 335 by IS (236 Violent Deaths)	223/ 204 by IS
May 1-7	45/39	52/43	55/54
May 8-14	55/51	68/46	49
May 15-21	35/32	55/26	80/75
May 22-28	49/46	72/62	51/49
May 29-31	16/13	39/30	15
MAY	200/ 181 by IS	286/ 207 by IS (261 Violent Deaths)	250/ 242 by IS
Jun 1-7	50/44	96/87	29/28
Jun 8-14	67/59	107/47	88
Jun 15-21	40/35	82/28	19
Jun 22-28	45/44	53/38	62
Jun 29-30	17/15	21/16	14
JUN	219/ 197 by IS	359/ 216 by IS (315 Violent Deaths)	212/ 211 by IS
Jul 1-7	50/49	56/52	90
Jul 8-14	42/39	56/47	31
Jul 15-21	50/45	59/42	63
Jul 22-28	29/24	61/53	19/15
Jul 29-31	23/21	25/13	11
JUL	194/ 178 by IS	257/ 207 by IS (212 Violent Deaths)	214/ 210 by IS
Aug 1-7	43/39	49/45	30/29
Aug 8-14	43/42	38	44
Aug 15-21	38/35	24/21	40/37
Aug 22-28	35/31	25/19	61
Aug 29-31	27/24	68/30	43
AUG	186/ 171 by IS	204/ 153 by IS (189 Violent Deaths)	218/ 214 by IS
Sep 1-7	38	44	54
Sep 8-14	48/43	63/55	127
Sep 15-21	44/38	90/74	70
Sep 22-28	36/33	22/17	27/26
Sep 29-30	9/6	19/10	29/25
SEP	175/ 158 by IS	237/ 200 by IS (179 Violent Deaths)	307/ 302 by IS
Oct 1-7	54/49	85/25	92
Oct 8-14	43/41	161/152	41
Oct 15-21	54/50	87/72	35
Oct 22-28	24/23	24/20	53
Oct 29-31	23	10	24
OCT	198/ 186 by IS	367/ 279 by IS (177 Violent Deaths)	245 by IS
Nov 1-7	32/31	75/69	36
Nov 8-14	39/31	111/63	19
Nov 15-21	30/27	51/43	29
Nov 22-28	26/21	35/25	30
Nov 29-30	9/8	4	27
NOV	136/ 118 by IS	276/ 204 by IS (183 Violent Deaths_	141 by IS
Dec 1-7	22/15	21/8	11
Dec 8-14	22	15	22
Dec 15-21	23/21	23/16	17
Dec 22-28	30/28	24/18	37
Dec 29-31	15/14	225/220	4
DEC	112/ 100 by IS	308/ 277 by IS (96 Violent Deaths)	91 by IS
Jan 1-7	32/31	17/10	24
Jan 8-14	32/30	97/94	53
Jan 15-21	22/18	17/11	16/14
Jan 22-28	27/22	36/17	31
Jan 29-31	12	7	6
JAN	125/ 114 by IS	174/ 139 by IS (108 Violent Deaths)	130/ 128 by IS
Feb 1-7	29/25	76	30

Violence By Province Feb 1-7, 2019

Province	Violence
Anbar	4 Incidents 2 Killed 1 Civilian 1 ISF 1 Wounded 1 ISF 2 Shootings 1 Rockets
Babil	1 Incident 1 Shooting
Diyala	8 Incidents 3 Killed 1 Civilian 2 ISF 4 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 ISF 2 Hashd 7 Shootings 1 IED
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 1 Killed 1 Hashd 1 Wounded 1 ISF 1 IED 1 Sticky Bomb
Ninewa	4 Incidents 64 Killed 1 ISF 63 Civilians 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 Shooting 1 IED
Salahaddin	9 Incidents 6 Killed 1 ISF 5 Civilians 23 Wounded 1 Hashd 1 ISF 21 Civilians 3 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Rocket

SOURCES

Associated Press, "Bus carrying Iranian pilgrims in Iraq comes under attack," 2/3/19

Baghdad Post, "An attack on a village south of Mosul … The security forces respond and impose their control," 2/9/19

- "Deputy: Terrorists target Jurf al-Sakhr on the other side of the Euphrates River," 2/3/19

- "A policeman was injured when a roadside bomb exploded west of Kirkuk," 4/5/19

- "A policeman was killed in an attack by Daesh south of Baquba," 2/3/19

- “Three hot areas in Diyala within the comprehensive security protection strategy,” 2/1/19

- "The toll of the victims of a terrorist attack in Diyala," 2/3/19

Bas News, "Armed Men Attack Iranian Shi'ite Pilgrims in Iraq," 2/4/19

Buratha News, "A force from the crowd foils an attack by Daesh terrorist that tried to breakthrough the line in Salahaddin," 2/7/19

Clarion Project, "Deadly Attack on American Base in Iraq Foiled," 2/3/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Bomb blast on tourist bus in Iraq leaves four people dead, wounded," Iraqi News, 2/3/19

Al Forat, "The crowd foils an infiltration attempt for the north-east of Diyala," 2/7/19

Iraq Newspaper, "Daesh Terrorists Launched An Attack On The 20th Division In Kanos South Of Mosul And The Killing Of Police And Media," 2/6/19

Al Maalomah, “Council of Babil: the edges of Jurf al-Nasr constitute a security threat to the whole,” 2/5/19

- "Gunmen attack the house of a tribal sheikh east of Fallujah," 2/3/19

Al Mirbad, "Martyrdom of a member of the crowd of the Muthanna populace in the Kirkuk district," 2/6/19

NINA, "Civil Defense Teams Recover 14 Unidentified Bodies In The Right Side Of Mosul," 2/7/19

- "Mass Grave Found West Of Mosul," 2/7/19

- “A Military Source: Daesh has resorted to sniping rather than terrorist attacks in Khanaqin countryside,” 2/3/19

- "The popular crowd foils an attempt by Daesh to sneak into the outskirts of Khanqin," 2/3/19

- “Two combat regiments will be deployed in the Khanaqin countryside in Diyala,” 2/3/19

Shafaaq News, "Security forces thwarted a fierce attack by Daash," 2/2/19

- "Three brothers are kidnapped in Salahaddin," 2/6/19

Sotaliraq, "A bombing targeting a civilian vehicle in Kirkuk and the arrest of 28 wanted in Sulaymaniya," 2/7/19

- "The killing and wounding of members of the SWAT to repel the advance of Daesh in Salahaddin," 2/6/19

Xinhua, "IS attack kills Iraqi guard on border with Syria," 2/2/19