Security In Iraq Jul 15-21, 2020

Security incidents have slightly ticked up the last two weeks but Iraq is still in a lull in between storms. With the Islamic State’s spring offensive over attacks remain in the teens until the next campaign starts.

There were a total of 19 incidents recorded in Iraq from July 15-21. One of those was by a pro-Iran Hashd group that fired rockets at the Green Zone. That left 18 by the Islamic State. That compared to 15 the week before and 10 the first week of the month. Despite the slight increase this was still the seventh week incidents were in the teens. The Islamic State still appears to be focusing upon rebuilding in Iraq rather than carrying out operations. Preserving its leadership and recruiting and training new cadres are the priorities.

Attacks were spread across Ninewa (1), Salahaddin (3), Baghdad (3), Kirkuk (3), and Diyala (9).

17 people died and another 28 were wounded during the week. 4 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 5 Hashd al-Shaabi and 8 civilians lost their lives while 5 ISF, 11 Hashd and 12 civilians were injured. Diyala had the most casualties with 24 followed by 11 in Salahaddin, 6 in Baghdad, 3 in Kirkuk, and 1 in Ninewa. Since the spring IS has been targeting the security forces rather than civilians. This week was no different with 25 of 45 casualties coming from the army, police and Hashd.

Besides the rocket attack an army brigade commander was ambushed and killed in Tarmiya in the northern section of Baghdad province. The security forces had just gone through the area at the start of the month. Also a member of the Hashd was killed by an IED in Abu Ghraib. Tarmiya has been a long time IS base. It was formerly one of the main sources for car bombs into the capital. IS still has cells there although attacks are rare. Despite overall attacks being down in the country, the assassination of the brigade commander showed that the insurgents can still hit high level targets.

Diyala remains the most violent area of the country. There were 9 incidents during the week. A checkpoint was attacked along with a village, a Hashd base was hit by mortars and 7 Hashd were killed and wounded in a booby trapped house. Two of the incidents took place in the Khanaqin district in the northeast with five in the Muqdadiya district in the center and the rest in the north. The government conducted two sweeps as well, one in Muqdadiya and one in Lake Hamrin. It seems like after a lull in operations last month IS is back to work in the province.

There were three incidents in Kirkuk. 3 bodies were found shot while two IEDs exploded. Attacks have been at a low level in the governorate since the start of July.

A checkpoint was hit by mortar fire south of Mosul. The security forces also went through the Jazeera desert region along the Salahaddin border. This is one of the main base areas for the Islamic State.

Finally, there were three incidents in Salahaddin. There was one gun battle and two IEDs. Tharthar and the Jazeera desert by Ninewa were also searched by the government.

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Anbar	-	1	-
Babil	1	2	-
Baghdad	2 Pro-Iran	2/ 1 Pro-Iran	3/ 1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	5	6	9
Kirkuk	1	3	3
Muthanna	-	1	-
Ninewa	1	-	1
Salahaddin	2	1	3
TOTAL	12/ 2 Pro-Iran	16/ 2 Pro-Iran	19/ 1 Pro-Iran

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Anbar	-	2 (2K)	-
Babil	-	1 (1W)	-
Baghdad	-	2 (2K)	6 (4K, 2W)
Diyala	8 (1K, 7W)	21 (9K, 12W)	24 (6K, 18W)
Kirkuk	-	2 (1K, 1W)	3 (3K)
Ninewa	2 (2W)	-	1 (1W)
Salahaddin	2 (2K)	2 (1K, 1W)	11 (4K, 7W)
TOTAL	12 (3K, 9W)	30 (15K, 15W)	45 (17K, 28W)

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	13	1	-	2	-	1	2	-	-
Jul	3	7	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	5	4	-	1	-	1	4	-	-

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	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jul	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-

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	4	1	2	-	-	1	-	-
Jul	2	3	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
Jun 22-28	10/1	8	13
Jun 29-30	1	4	2
JUN	60/8	46	68
Jul 1-7	12/2	3	9
Jul 8-14	16/2	15	15
Jul 15-21	19/1	17	28

Violence By Province Jul 15-21, 2020

Province	Violence
Baghdad	3/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 4 Killed 1 Hashd 3 ISF 2 Wounded 2 ISF 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Rockets
Diyala	9 Incidents 6 Killed 1 ISF 2 Hashd 3 Civilians 15 Wounded 3 ISF 5 Civilians 7 Hashd 4 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 3 Killed 3 Civilians 3 Wounded 3 Civilians 1 Shootings 2 IEDs
Ninewa	1 Incident 1 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 Mortar
Salahaddin	3 Incidents 4 Killed 2 Civilians 2 Hashd 7 Wounded 3 Civilians 4 Hashd 1 Shooting 2 IEDs

SOURCES

Bas News, "Kirkuk: Three People Found Executed," 7/16/20

Al Maalomah, "ISIS bombed a headquarters of the popular crowd in Diyala," 7/19/20

- "Killing and wounding six fighters from the Popular Mobilization when a bomb exploded in Salahaddin," 7/19/20

- "The Popular Mobilization announces the death of one of its fighters in Abu Ghraib," 7/18/20

- "Two soldiers died from their injuries as a result of the Tarmiya attack yesterday," 7/18/20

NINA, "5 Civilians Killed And Wounded In An ISIS Attack Northeast Of Baquba," 7/15/20

- "Caches and explosive devices to ISIS were found in the desert of the Island, north of the Euphrates River," 7/21/20

- "A civilian is assassinated in Abu Saida, Diyala," 7/21/10

- "A Civilian Wounded By A Mortar Shell South Of Mosul," 7/20/20

- "An explosive device explodes in Kirkuk, without any injuries," 7/16/20

- "An Explosive Device Explodes Near A Mosque In Kirkuk," 7/20/20

- "A force from the Popular Mobilization repelled a terrorist attack south of Samarra," 7/21/20

- "Mortar shells landed around the headquarters of the PMF in Diyala," 7/20/20

- "A number of Cows killed in an explosive device explosion in Al-Abbara district, in Diyala," 7/20/20

- "Salah al-Din Operations initiate a military operation west and east of Wadi Tharthar," 7/20/20- "A Security Operation Launched To Secure Lake Hamrin, Northeast Of Baquba," 7/18/20

- "Security Operation To Track Remnants Of ISIS In Al-Muqdadiya, Diyala Governorate," 7/16/20

- "Seven fighters of the Popular Mobilization were killed and wounded in a booby-trapped house explosion, northeast of Baquba," 7/20/20

- "A soldier was killed and another one was wounded in an explosive device, northeast of Baquba," 7/19/20

- "Two Popular Mobilization Fighters were killed and wounded in an ISIS attack northeast of Baquba," 7/21/20

- "Two soldiers were wounded by a sniper fire northeast of Baquba," 7/21/20

Oweis, Khaled Yacoub, "Iraqi military moves against ISIS north of Baghdad," The National, 7/2/20

Shafaaq News, "Revealing details of the killing of an army brigade commander and wounding 4 soldiers," 7/17/20

Al Sumaria, "Killing and wounding five people, including two children, with an explosive device targeting their vehicle near Shirqat," 7/17/20

Xinhua, "3 IS militants, civilian killed in attacks in eastern Iraq," 7/16/20

- "3 rockets land near U.S. embassy in Iraq's Baghdad," 7/19/20