Security In Iraq Jun 15-21, 2020

Violence in Iraq has returned to a very low level. For the third week in a row incidents were only in the teens. This came after the Islamic State announced a new offensive in April-May where attacks went up to 2018 levels. The government has also been launching an aggressive series of security sweeps which have also kept insurgent operations down.

From June 15-21 there were just 16 security incidents reported in the media. That was the same number from the week before. 2 of those incidents were pro-Iran groups firing rockets at targets in Baghdad that housed Americans, plus a third where rockets were discovered before they were launched. These types of attacks have been renewed as the Iraqi government has entered talks with the United States over a new security agreement. Tehran is trying to send the message that the Americans can be targeted at any time and that they should leave the country. That left 13 incidents likely by IS versus 12 the week before, and 17 the first week of June.

Incidents were distributed across just five provinces, 1 in Kirkuk, 4 in Baghdad and Diyala each, 2 in Ninewa, and 5 in Salahaddin.

Those led to 11 deaths and 19 wounded. 1 civilian, 4 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 6 Hashd al-Shaabi lost their lives with another 5 ISF, 7 civilians, and 7 Hashd being injured. Salahaddin had the most casualties with 19, followed by 6 in Diyala, 4 in Ninewa, and 1 in Baghdad. Although casualties were low the security forces suffered more than civilians which has been a decided change over the last two months. It appears IS is attempting to intimidate and establish military superiority over the rural areas they operate in by going after the police, army, and Hashd.

Since the Islamic State lost its last bit of territory in Syria last year it has been moving in men and material from the country into Iraq largely via Anbar. In response the government has constant security operations in the large uninhabited areas of the province. There were seven during the week going through the desert areas, the border, and the Hit district.

Besides the three rocket incidents a lawyer was also assassinated in Tarmiya, a town in northern Baghdad province. This has been a main hub of militant activity for years.

Diyala had four incidents during the week. An army patrol was hit by an IED, a group of civilians were attacked, and an IS sniper killed a Hashd and wounded a soldier all in the Muqdadiya district in the center. An infiltration attempt was foiled in the Khanaqin district in the northeast. This province is the center of IS activity in Iraq which is why it regularly has a high number of incidents.

3 people who’d been kidnapped weeks before were rescued by the security forces in a village in the Daquq district in southern Kirkuk. IS was never expelled from the southern region of the governorate which is why almost all incidents occur there.

There were two IEDs in Ninewa targeting civilians. That led to four wounded total. Both occurred in the Qayara district south of Mosul. IS is also using western Ninewa to smuggle in people from Syria. Most attacks now occur in the south in places like Qayara.

Salahaddin was the most violent area of Iraq. It had five incidents including IEDs aimed at an army convoy and a Hashd patrol, a tribal Hashd leader was assassinated, and a checkpoint was shot at. The biggest event however was an attack upon a Hashd headquarters in the Samarra district that left 6 casualties. IS has greatly picked up its operations in the province in recent weeks. In response there have been a slew of security sweeps with three this week, one in the east, one in west Samarra in the center, and the last in Yathrib in the south.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jun 1-7	Jun 8-14	Jun 15-21
Anbar	4	-	-
Babil	-	1	-
Baghdad	-	4 Pro-Iran	4/ 3 Pro-Iran
Diyala	5	4	4
Irbil	1	-	-
Kirkuk	5	2	1
Ninewa	-	3	2
Salahaddin	2	2	5
TOTAL	17	16/ 4 Pro-Iran	16/ 3 Pro-Iran

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jun 1-7	Jun 8-14	Jun 15-21
Anbar	4 (4K)	-	-
Babil	-	2 (2W)	-
Baghdad	-	-	1 (1K)
Diyala	10 (5K, 5W)	14 (8K, 6W)	6 (2K, 4W)
Irbil	4 (2K, 2W)	-	-
Kirkuk	14 (2K, 12W)	6 (1K, 5W)	-
Ninewa	-	1 (1W)	4 (4W)
Salahaddin	-	2 (1K, 1W)	19 (8K, 11W)
TOTAL	32 (13K, 19W)	25 (10K, 15W)	30 (11K, 19W)

Islamic State Activity in Iraq 2018-20

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
2019 Totals	185	112	33	63	2	6	29	2	-
Jan 2020	13	6	-	2	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	16	5	2	8	-	1	-	-	-
Mar	15	10	4	2	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	20	17	4	2	-	-	-	-	-
May	38	18	8	9	1	5	17	-	-
Jun	9	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	-

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
2019 Totals	77	116	24	19	6	8	18	-	1
Jan 2020	10	1	2	2	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	5	-	2	1	-	2	1	-	-
Mar	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	17	7	6	3	-	2	1	1	-
May	15	10	1	7	1	4	10	-	-
Jun	1	2	-	-	-	1	3	-	-

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
2019 Totals	63	49	14	3	9	6	17	-	3
Jan 2020	7	5	2	1	-	1	-	-	-
Feb	5	5	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Mar	2	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	8	8	1	4	-	1	1	-	-
May	5	9	-	2	-	-	2	-	-
Jun	2	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
2019 Totals	60	54	32	5	2	6	8	2	6
Jan 2020	4	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Feb	5	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
Mar	5	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Apr	4	3	3	-	-	1	-	-	-
May	21	6	9	5	-	2	2	-	-
Jun	5	2	1	2	-	-	1	-	-

           

Security In Iraq 2019-20

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	32	17/10	24
Jan 8-14	32	94/31	53
Jan 15-21	22	17/11	16/14
Jan 22-28	27	36/17	31
Jan 29-31	12	7	6
JAN 2019	114	139	130/128
Feb 1-7	29/1	76/16	30
Feb 8-14	24	26	18
Feb 15-21	40	112/37	12
Feb 22-28	25	36	70
FEB	118/1	250/115	130
Mar 1-7	13	22	45
Mar 8-14	19	75/10	37
Mar 15-21	12	66/37	21/11
Mar 22-28	13	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	9/8	26
Apr 22-28	19	45	15
Apr 29-30	2	1	4
APR	99	105	100
May 1-7	20	15	18
May 8-14	24	31	41
May 15-21	37/1	62/25	39
May 22-28	43	39	54
May 29-31	13	16	48
MAY	137/1	163/125	200
Jun 1-7	26	19	44
Jun 8-14	25/1	29	15
Jun 15-21	21/2	6	13/10
Jun 22-28	18	17	41
Jun 29-30	9	3	9
JUN	99/3	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
Aug 29-31	11	19	10
AUG	104	103	141
Sep 1-7	39	39	38
Sep 8-14	30	35	43
Sep 15-21	23	27	26
Sep 22-28	24/1	15	20
Sep 29-30	7	6	4
SEP	123/1	122	131
Oct 1-7	3	1	2
Oct 8-14	14	25	17
Oct 15-21	19	29	13
Oct 22-28	22/1	33	10
Oct 29-31	12/1	4	11
OCT	70/2	92	53
Nov 1-7	6/1	4	1
Nov 8-14	9/1	2	25
Nov 15-21	15/1	11	2
Nov 22-28	17/1	24	33
Nov 29-30	8/1	6	37
NOV	55/5	47	98
Dec 1-7	36/3	33	44
Dec 8-14	19/3	19	19
Dec 15-21	26	44	25
Dec 22-28	30/1	30	38
Dec 29-31	9	8	7
DEC	120/7	134	133
Jan 1-7	25/7	16	84
Jan 8-14	24/3	12	34
Jan 15-21	23/2	11	12
Jan 22-28	11/1	10	8
Jan 29-31	8/1	4	1
JAN 2020	91/12	53	139
Feb 1-7	22	13	11
Feb 8-14	18/1	5	38
Feb 15-21	16/2	42	18
Feb 22-28	25	15	34
Feb 29	4	5	2
FEB	85/3	80	103
Mar 1-7	17/3	11	17
Mar 8-14	15/2	13	33
Mar 15-21	14/2	5	19
Mar 22-28	14/1	13	11
Mar 29-31	9	5	10
MAR	69/8	47	90
Ap 1-7	27/1	27	37
Apr 8-14	24	25	51
Apr 15-21	33/1	19	34
Apr 22-28	22	8	40
Apr 29-30	5	2	4
APR	111/2	81	165
May 1-7	44/1	47	36
May 8-14	49	21	47
May 15-21	66/1	45	64
May 22-28	30	9	21
May 29-31	7	3	12
MAY	196/2	125	180
Jun 1-7	17	13	19
Jun 8-14	16/4	10	15
Jun 15-21	16/3	11	19

Violence By Province Jun 15-21, 2020

Province	Violence
Baghdad	4/3 Pro-Iran 1 Killed 1 Civilian 1 Shooting 3 Rockets
Diyala	5 Incidents 2 Killed 1 Hashd 1 ISF 4 Wounded 1 ISF 3 Civilians 3 Shootings 1 IED
Ninewa	2 Incidents 4 Wounded 4 Civilians 2 IEDs
Salahaddin	5 Incidents 8 Killed 3 ISF 5 Hashd 11 Wounded 4 ISF 7 Hashd 3 Shootings 2 IEDs

SOURCES

AIN, "The popular crowd pursues the remnants of ISIS east Salahaddin," 6/15/20

Baghdad Post, "A lawyer was assassinated by gunmen north of Baghdad,' 6/19/20

- "The assassination of an official in the clan crowd by gunmen south of Salahaddin," 6/19/20

Bas News, "Tuz Khurmatu: Seven Iraqi Soldiers Killed, Injured in Bomb Blast," 6/15/20

France 24, "Rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone for the fifth time in ten days," 6/18/20

Al Maalomah, "Anbar .. Launching a security campaign to purify desert areas of ISIS remains," 6/18/20

- "The crowd is conducting a maneuver on the Iraqi-Syrian border," 6/11/20

- "Killing and wounding 4 fighters from the Popular Mobilization explosion, southeast of Salahaddin," 6/20/20

- "A member of the crowd was killed and a soldier was wounded by ISIS sniper fire, east Diyala," 6/20/20

- "The PMF carries out an inspection to pursue ISIS remnants in Anbar," 6/16/20

- "The popular crowd announces the liberation of 3 kidnapped in an ISIS cave, west of Daquq," 6/16/20

- "The popular crowd purges two villages of ISIS waste east of Salahaddin," 6/22/20

Al Monitor, "Iraqi forces thwart rocket attack near US troops," 6/16/20

- "Three Katyusha rockets land near Baghdad's airport," 6/16/20

NINA, "2 Civilians Wounded By An IED South Of Mosul," 6/19/20

- "3 Tunnels And 5 Dens Of ISIS Found In Salah al-Din," 6/22/20

- "An ISIS Infiltration Attempt Foiled Near Khanaqin, Diyala," 6/20/20

- "Joint forces Carry A Massive Security Operation In Baghdad Belt Areas And Anbar Desert," 6/11/20

- "Joint Forces Carry Out A Raid And Inspection To The Farms Adjacent To The Euphrates River In Anbar," 6/14/20

- "Joint Forces Conduct An Inspection Operation In Southern Samarra," 6/20/20

- "A Number Of Boats Of ISIS Destroyed In Salah al-Din," 6/22/20

- "An operation for tracking and clearing the orchards north of Muqdadiya, northeast of Baquba," 6/16/20

- "An Operation Starts At Down In Salah al-Din Boundaries With Diyala, Samara, And Kirkuk," 6/22/20

- "The PMF and army launch a security operation to hunt down remnants of ISIS in the Anbar desert," 6/21/20

- "The PMF and the security forces carry out a security operation in the Tharthar desert," 6/15/20

- "The Popular Crowd: Clearance of /14/ km from Hawi al-Adhaim, north of Diyala," 6/22/20

- "A Soldier Killed By An Explosive Device, Northeast Of Baquba," 6/17/20

- "Three people from one family were injured in an armed attack northeast of Baquba," 6/17/20

- "Two people wounded in an explosive device south of Mosul," 6/20/20

Shafaaq News, Terrorists infiltrates the security forces … Salahaddin talks about Mekeeshfa attack," 6/21/20

Al Sumaria, "A member of the crowd was killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in Metibji, 6/16/20

- "The popular crowd carries out raids and searches west of Samarra," 6/17/20