Security In Iraq Aug 22-28, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

The number of security incidents in Iraq during the fourth week of August remained within the mean seen since the spring. The difference was this week had the highest casualty count of the year. That was due to a bombing at a market in Babil, something rarely seen in the country recently.

There were 27 incidents recorded in Iraq from August 22-28. That matched the 27 incidents from August 1-7. One of those incidents was a body found in Mosul that had been tortured and shot. The perpetrators are unknown and may not have been committed by the Islamic State. This marked the twelfth week that incidents have varied between the teens and twenties.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Aug 1-7	Aug 8-14	Aug 15-21	Aug 22-28
Anbar	1	-	1	1
Babil	3	1	1	2
Baghdad	7	1	-	5
Diyala	7	7	8	14
Kirkuk	1	6	8	4
Ninewa	2	1	2	1
Salahaddin	5	2	-	-
Sulaymaniya	1	-	-	-
TOTAL	27	18	20	27

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Aug 1-7	Aug 8-14	Aug 15-21	Aug 22-28
Anbar	2 (2W)	-	-	11 (4K, 7W)
Babil	5 (5W)	1 (1W)	1 (1K)	44 (4K, 40W)
Baghdad	13 (3K, 10W)	2 (2K)	-	4 (3K, 1W)
Diyala	13 (5K, 8W)	12 (6K, 6W)	14 (3K, 11W)	21 (6K, 15W)
Kirkuk	1 (1K)	9 (3K, 6W)	28 (24K, 4W)	15 (6K, 9W)
Ninewa	3 (2K, 1W)	1 (1K0	5 (5K)	1 (1K)
Salahaddin	8 (3K, 5W)	1 (1K)	-	-
TOTAL	45 (14K, 31W)	26 (13K, 13W)	48 (33K, 15W)	96 (24K, 72W)

There were 96 casualties during the week, the most of any week in 2019. 24 people died made up of 5 Hashd al-Shaabi, 9 civilians and 10 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Another 72 were wounded consisting of 20 ISF and 52 civilians. 44 people were killed and wounded in Babil accounting for the high figures.

A checkpoint was attacked in the Garma district in eastern Anbar. That left 4 soldiers dead and 7 wounded. The last IS activity in the province was back on August 3 when an IED went off. IS is hardly active in Anbar anymore instead using it as a transit point between Iraq and Syria.

Babil had two incidents including a motorcycle bomb going off at a market. That killed 4 and wounded 36. That last mass casualty bombing was a on July 15 when two suicide bombers hit the town of Malif in southern Baghdad. These used to be common occurrences in the nation, but now only happen once a month at most. It doesn't appear that IS lacks explosives as suicide belts are often found in security sweeps by the government. Its networks however that allowed it to move fighters into populated areas must be highly damaged. Another important trend is that this marked the seventh attack in Babil this month, the most since June 2018. The militants definitely appear to be exploring their possibilities in the governorate.

There was hardly any violence in Baghdad over the last two weeks, but that changed during the last week of August. There were five attacks total all in the north and south, the main stomping grounds of the insurgents. That included a sheikh being assassinated in Tarmiya in the outer north. The militants have been trying to infiltrate into the capital since the start of the year, but it is proving a difficult task. IS has to return to the cities of the country in order to remain relevant and gain access to the large flows of money that pass through them. This looks to be a long term effort by the group, but it’s unclear whether they will be successful or not.

The Islamic State’s area of operations has shrunken dramatically this summer. Initially west Anbar, all the rural areas of Diyala, southern Kirkuk, south and west Ninewa, along with northern and central Salahaddin all had consistent attacks. Now, Diyala regularly has the most violence each week with Kirkuk going up and down, while activity in the others have fallen off. This is the second week in a row for example, with no operations in Salahaddin. On the other hand, from August 22-28 there were 14 incidents in Diyala including an assault upon an army base that included a suicide bomber, 2 infiltration attempts being blocked by the security forces, and four attacks on checkpoints. Five of the incidents were in the Jalawla-Khanaqin districts in the northeast. Kirkuk had four incidents. Three were gun battles, and the fourth was mortar fire upon a football stadium that left 15 dead and wounded, another type of attack just as rare as suicide or car bombings these days.

On the other hand, IS is looking to intimidate and drive people out of rural areas in central Iraq to establish new bases. There are constant reports of that. A delegation from the Daquq district in southern Kirkuk complained to parliament about villages being attacked there, while the district council in Diyala’s Kanaan and the town of Mayah in the same province both said the security forces were not protecting them. In the Shura district south of Mosul 15 families fled due to the insurgents. This is part of the militants main strategy in Iraq to find new places where they can create safe havens, protect their leadership, and train new recruits.

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-19

Diyala	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	219	198	47	43	5	13	25	3	1
Jan 2019	21	2	3	8	-	-	1	-	-
Feb	18	2	5	7	-	-	3	-	-
Mar	7	6	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	13	15	2	4	1	-	1	-	-
May	11	13	3	5	-	-	13 (9 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jun	15	8	2	4	-	1	-	1	-
Jul	7	12	2	4	-	-	2	-	-
Aug	17	11	3	7	-	1	-	1	-
2019 Totals	109	69	21	41	1	2	20	2	-

Kirkuk	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	172	182	39	18	10	14	29	9	6
Jan 2019	8	17	-	4	2	3	-	-	1
Feb	9	5	3	-	-	2	1	-	-
Mar	5	11	2	1	2	-	2	-	-
Apr	5	9	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
May	11	18	2	3	1	-	13 (13 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jun	5	10	1	2	-	-	-	-	-
Jul	2	10	-	-	-	1	2	-	-
Aug	9	5	7	-	-	1	-	-	-
2019 Totals	54	86	18	10	5	7	18	-	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
2018 Totals	139	74	43	7	5	6	6	2	3
Jan 2019	6	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	8	3	2	2	-	-	1	-	1
Mar	6	1	3	-	-	-	1	-	1
Apr	6	6	1	-	1	2	2	-	-
May	8	8	1	-	1	2	6 (5 Farms Burned)	-	1
Jun	2	5	-	-	1	-	4 (4 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jul	2	2	-	-	1	1	2	-	-
Aug	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
2019 Totals	39	26	7	2	5	5	17	-	3

Salahaddin	Shootings (Totals)	IEDs/ Sticky Bombs (Totals)	Gun Battles	Attacks on Checkpoints	Attacks on Mukhtars/ Sheikhs	Kidnappings	Attacks on Towns	Suicide Bombers	Car Bombs
2018 Totals	110	102	41	18	1	16	4	9	5
Jan 2019	5	5	3	1	-	3	-	-	1
Feb	7	11	3	-	-	2	1	1	-
Mar	3	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	1
Apr	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
May	10	9	4	1	1	-	6 (5 Farms Burned)	-	-
Jun	4	3	2	-	1	-	-	-	-
Jul	3	6	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
Aug	5	1	1	-	-	1	1	-	1
2019 Totals	39	42	18	3	2	6	8	1	4

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	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	1 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul)	2
Mar	-	1 (1 – Ninewa/Mosul)	1
Apr	-	2 (1 – Anbar 1 - Salahaddin)	2
May	1 (1 – Baghdad)	3 (2 – Anbar 1 – Ninewa)	4
Jun	1 (1 – Diyala)	-	1
Jul	2 (2 – Baghdad/Malif)	-	2
Aug	1 (1 – Diyala)	1 (1 – Salahaddin)	2

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	94/31	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	114	139	130/128
Feb 1-7	29/28	76/16	30
Feb 8-14	24	26	18
Feb 15-21	40	112/37	12
Feb 22-28	25	36	70
FEB	118	250/115	130
Mar 1-7	13	22	45
Mar 8-14	19/18	75/10	37
Mar 15-21	12/11	66/37	21/11
Mar 22-28	13/12	8/5	1
Mar 29-31	6	8	7
MAR	61	147	101
Apr 1-7	20	22	13
Apr 8-14	41	28	42
Apr 15-21	17/16	9/8	26
Apr 22-28	19/18	45/10	15
Apr 29-30	2	1	4
APR	99	105	100
May 1-7	20/19	15	18
May 8-14	24	31	41
May 15-21	37/36	62/25	39
May 22-28	43	39	54
May 29-31	13	16	48
MAY	137/136	163/125	200
Jun 1-7	26	19	44
Jun 8-14	25/24	29	15
Jun 15-21	21/16	6	13/10
Jun 22-28	18	17	41
Jun 29-30	9	3	9
JUN	99/93	74	122/119
Jul 1-7	20	11	39
Jul 8-14	14	31	10
Jul 15-21	17	14	37
Jul 22-28	23	14	20
Jul 29-31	8	13	13
JUL	82	83	119
Aug 1-7	27	14	31
Aug 8-14	18	13	13
Aug 15-21	20	33	15
Aug 22-28	27	24	72

Violence By Province Aug 22-28, 2019

Province	Violence
Anbar	1 Incident 4 Killed 4 ISF 7 Wounded 7 ISF 1 Shooting
Babil	2 Incidents 4 Killed 4 Civilians 40 Wounded 40 Civilians 1 IED 1 Motorcycle Bomb
Baghdad	5 Incidents 3 Killed 3 Civilians 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 4 Shootings 1 Grenade
Diyala	14 Incidents 6 Killed 6 ISF 15 Wounded 2 Civilians 13 ISF 8 Shootings 3 IEDs 3 Mortars 1 Suicide Bomber
Kirkuk	4 Incidents 6 Killed 1 Civilian 5 Hashd 9 Wounded 9 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 Mortar
Ninewa	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Civilian 1 Shooting

SOURCES

Baghdad Post, “15 families displaced from their village to Mosul,” 8/26/19

- "An armed attack kills a civilian south of Baghdad," 8/27/19

- "Thwarting an infiltration attempt by ISIS terrorists in the outskirts of al-Azeem area north of Diyala," 8/24/19

Bas News, "Fierce Fighting Erupts Between IS and Shi'ite Militias near Khanaqin," 8/26/19

Ebraheem, Mohammed, "Landmine explosion wounds two civilians in Iraq's Anbar," Iraqi News, 8/3/19

Al Forat, "5 fighters of the Popular Mobilization martyred due to mortar shelling in Daquq," 8/25/19

- “URGENT Death toll rises to 25," 7/15/19

Hath Al-Youm, “The Presidency of the Parliament stresses the need to focus on the security of villages targeted by IS in Kirkuk,” 8/25/19

Al Hurra, "Reuters: Iraqi soldiers killed at checkpoint in Anbar," 8/29/19

Iraq Newspaper, "ISIS Attack On Federal Police Positions In The Villages Of Burima And Saddah In Kirkuk And the Battle Continues," 8/25/19

- "ISIS Launches A Fierce Attack On the 3rd Battalion, 74th Brigade, 5th Division In Diyala," 8/22/19

Al Maalomah, "The Popular Mobilization repels an ISIS attack near Hawija," 8/27/19

Al Masalah, "Death toll rises to 40 injured," 8/24/19

Middle East Monitor, "Iraq: 4 killed in Daesh attack east of Anbar," 8/29/19

NINA, "Army Kill 4 Terrorists In Clashes Northeast Of Baquba," 8/22/19

- "An attack by ISIS on an agricultural village northeast of Baquba foiled," 8/23/19

- “Council of Kanaan in Diyala: “The Area Was Subjected To /10/ Terrorist Attacks Without Deterrent,” 8/26/19

- “In Diyala, Villages Cry For Help From ISIS Mortars,” 8/28/19

- "A Soldier Injured By ISIS's Sniper, Northeast Of Baquba," 8/22/19

- "A soldier wounded in a terrorist attack northeast of Baquba," 8/25/19

Al Sumaria, "The body of a man shot dead was found south of Baghdad," 8/26/19

- "Foil an attempt to target the commissioner's house of the Interior Ministry in Nahrawan," 8/25/19

- "One civilian wounded, body found in Baghdad," 8/25/19

- "Repel a terrorist exposure to ISIS in Jalawla," 8/28/19

- "Three people wounded in a bombing north of Babil," 8/23/19

- "A tribal sheikh was killed in an armed attack inside his house in Tarmiya," 8/26/19

Xinhua, "4 IS militants, 2 soldiers killed in clashes in eastern Iraq," 8/22/19

- "4 Killed, 30 wounded in motorcycle bombing south of Iraqi capital," 8/24/19