Security In Iraq Sep 1-7, 2020

The number of security incidents reported in Iraq declined in the first week of September compared to the last full week of August, but the types of attacks showed that the Islamic State may still be in the process of starting a new summer offensive. Pro-Iran groups also kept up their steady pace of operations against the Western presence in the country.

 

There were a total of 20 incidents reported during the first week of September in Iraq. Five of those were by pro-Iran groups. That included IEDs on convoys carrying supplies to the U.S. in Babil, Baghdad, Dhi Qar. The incident in Babil left one wounded while in Baghdad two more were injured including a policeman. Rockets were also fired at a British security company and the Baghdad International Airport both in the capital. This recent wave of attacks started in June when the U.S. and Iraq opened talks over a new security agreement which Iran is against. In August they reached a new level with 24 incidents as Prime Minister Mustafa Kazemi travelled to Washington D.C. and Tehran wanted to embarrass him. September has started off at that same pace.

 

That left 15 incidents by the Islamic State. That compared to 29 the last full of week of August but was greater than the third week of August that had 9, the second week that had 11 and the first week that had 5.

 

The week’s attacks were spread across Baghdad (1), Salahaddin (1), Anbar (2), Ninewa (2), Kirkuk (4) and Diyala (5).

 

They left 13 dead and 26 wounded. That consisted of 2 Hashd al-Shaabi, 4 civilians, and 7 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) that died and 11 civilians and 15 ISF that were injured. Diyala had the most with 11 casualties followed by 8 each in Anbar and Kirkuk, 5 in Salahaddin, 4 in Ninewa, 2 in Baghdad and 1 in Babil.

 

Incidents in Anbar are a sign that the Islamic State might still be planning a late summer-fall campaign. There was a rare car bombing in Ramadi that left 3 wounded. The last vehicle bomb was back during the first week of February. A headquarters of the Border Guard was also assaulted in the Qaim district in the west by the Syrian border. That left two dead and three wounded. The province is mostly used as a smuggling and logistics hub for the insurgency. Attacks are very rare there and these types of incidents are unusual today across Iraq. They only happen in Anbar when IS goes on the offensive.

 

The government also launched three sweeps in Anbar during the week. One was in the northeast by the Salahaddin border. Another was by Akashat in the west by the Saudi border, and the last was in south Qaim by the Syrian border.

 

Besides the three attacks by pro-Iran groups there was a rare IED in Baghdad as well. That went off in Yusifiya which is in the south. IS has given up on its attempt to infiltrate into the city and that has resulted in a drop in incidents there. Now pro-Iran units are responsible for the overwhelming number of attacks in the capital.

 

Diyala saw the most violence as usual. A checkpoint was shot at, there was a gun battle with soldiers, two villages were attacked and a Hashd brigade commander was killed by a sniper initiating another exchange of gunfire. Three of the five incidents took place in the Khanaqin district in the northeast where IS is exploiting the gap between the ISF and the Kurds. There were two security sweeps through the northeast as well.

 

Kirkuk had more evidence of an IS offensive. A suicide bomber hit a checkpoint on the Kirkuk-Tikrit highway resulting in one dead and six wounded. The last suicide bomber occurred during the second week of July in Baghdad during the last militant campaign. There was also a gun battle and a town was hit by mortar fire.

 

There were just two incidents in Ninewa both in the west. An IED went off in the Tal Afar district and there was a shooting in the Sinjar district. Violence is rare in both areas with most attacks taking place in the south. It’s another sign that IS is picking up its operations.

 

An IED went off in Thar Thar in western Salahaddin that left five casualties. That happened during a security sweep through the area.

 

It’s still too early to tell whether a new IS offensive is beginning or not. The increase in attacks compared to most of August along with a suicide and car bomb however all point to one starting.

 

Attacks by Pro-Iran Groups May-August 2020

Date	Incident - Location
5/6/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
5/19/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
	May Total - 2
6/8/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
6/10/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
6/13/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
6/14/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
6/15/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
	Rockets found - Rashidiya, Baghdad
6/18/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
6/22/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s International Airport
	June Total - 8
7/5/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
	Rockets found – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
7/10/20	Rockets found – Aimed at Baghdad’s Green Zone
7/11/20	Burned trucks carrying supplies to US - Muthanna
7/19/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
7/22/20	IEDs trucks carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
7/23/10	Drone and bomb found – Jadriya, Baghdad
7/24/10	Rockets – Baghdad’s Besmaya Base
7/27/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
	Rockets – Salahaddin’s Camp Speicher
7/30/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s International Airport
7/31/20	Rockets found – Jabour al-Shaarah, Baghdad
	July Totals – 12
8/3/20	Rockets – 2 areas of Meshada Dist, Baghdad
	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
8/4/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
8/5/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
8/9/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
8/10/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Basra
8/11/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
	Rockets – Landed in Tigris River, Baghdad
8/14/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
	Rockets – Salahaddin’s Balad Air Base
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
8/15/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Camp Taji
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
8/16/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
8/18/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
8/21/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
8/22/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
8/23/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
8/28/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
8/29/20	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
8/30/20	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
	August Totals – 24
9/2/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
9/3/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
	Rockets UK security company – Baghdad
9/6/20	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
	Rockets – Baghdad International Airport
	September Totals - 5

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Sep 1-7
Anbar	2
Babil	1 Pro-Iran
Baghdad	3/ 2 Pro-Iran
Dhi Qar	1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	5
Kirkuk	4
Ninewa	2
Salahaddin	1
TOTAL	19/ 4 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Sep 1-7
Anbar	8 (2K, 6W)
Babil	1 (1W)
Baghdad	2 (2W)
Diyala	11 (5K, 6W)
Kirkuk	8 (2K, 6W)
Ninewa	4 (2K, 2W)
Salahaddin	5 (2K, 3W)
TOTAL	39 (13K, 26W)

 

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	10	10	1	2	-	-	2	-	-
Aug	16	5	2	7	-	3	3	-	-
Sep	5	-	2	1	-	-	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
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	2	1	1	-	1	1	-	-
Aug	5	5	1	-	-	-	3	-	-
Sep	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	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
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	-	-	-	-	-
Aug	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sep	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	4	5	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
Aug	6	3	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
Sep	-	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
Jul 22-28	13/5	9	8
Jul 29-31	13/2	3	7
JUL	73/12	47	67
Aug 1-7	10/4	7	10
Aug 8-14	19/8	7	22
Aug 15-21	14/5	13	20
Aug 22-28	32/3	23	41
Aug 29-31	13/3	4	12
AUG	88/24	54	105
Sep 1-7	19/4	13	26

 

Violence By Province Sep 1-7 2020

Province	Violence
Anbar	2 Incidents 2 Killed 2 ISF 6 Wounded 2 Civilians 4 ISF   1 Shooting 1 Car Bomb
Babil	1 Pro-Iran Incident 1 Wounded 1 Civilian   1 IED
Baghdad	3/2 Pro-Iran Incidents 2 Wounded 1 Civilian 1 ISF   2 IEDs 2 Rockets
Dhi Qar	1 Pro-Iran Incident   1 IED
Diyala	5 Incidents 5 Killed 1 Civilian 1 Hashd 3 ISF 6 Wounded 3 Civilians 3 ISF   5 Shootings 1 Mortar
Kirkuk	4 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Civilians 6 Wounded 2 Civilians 4 ISF   1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Mortar
Ninewa	2 Incidents 2 Killed 1 Hashd 1 ISF 2 Wounded 2 Civilians   1 Shooting 1 IED
Salahaddin	1 Incident 2 Killed 1 Civilian 1 ISF 3 Wounded 3 ISF   1 IED

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "British Security Company Hit with Rocket in Baghdad," 9/3/20

- "Four Iraqi Soldiers Killed, Injured by IS in Diyala," 9/1/20

- "IS Attacks Iraqi Forces near Syrian Border," 9/3/20

- "IS Attacks Village in Diyala, Kills One Civilian," 9/1/20

- "Kurdish Photojournalist Killed in Blast Targeting Iraqi Army," 9/4/20

- "Villages Repel IS Attack in Absence of Iraqi Forces in Disputed Areas," 9/5/20

 

Buratha News, "The launch of a military operation to track down ISIS in Wadi Janat in Diyala," 9/1/20

Kurdistan 24, "Suicide bombing at Kirkuk checkpoint leaves casualties: Military," 9/1/20

 

Al Maalomah, "A bomb exploded on a convoy of the International Alliance, as it passed through Babylon," 9/2/20

- "The crowd and the army carried out a security operation west of Anbar," 9/7/20

A-"A young man was killed when a shell fired by ISIS hit the town of Bashir in Kirkuk," 9/6/20

 

NINA, "2 Civilians Injured In An IED West Of Mosul," 9/3/20

- "Dismantling a bomb south of Kirkuk, which was targeting the security forces," 9/3/20

- "The Popular Mobilization Forces carry out combing operations in search of ISIS hideouts in the countryside of Khanaqin," 9/7/20

- "The Popular Mobilization Forces clear 85 square kilometers in the desert west of Anbar," 9/5/20

- "A security element and two civilians were injured in a car bomb explosion in Ramadi," 9/1/20

- "A Security Deployment Plan On The Border Between Diyala and Salah al-Din To Avoid A Mass Exodus Of Border Villages," 9/1/20

- "Security media: A policeman and a civilian were injured in the explosion that targeted a convoy of a security company contracted with the International Coalition," 9/6/20

- "Security Source: A Policeman And A Member Of The Tribal Mobilization Martyred Northwest Of Mosul," 9/6/20

 

NRT, "Woman Killed, Three Policemen Wounded In Bomb Blast On Kirkuk-Tikrit Road," 9/1/20

 

Shafaaq News, "A civilian was injured in a new attack on the coalition supplies in Babylon," 9/2/20

- "ISIS launches a triple attack, inflicting 3 security personnel in Jalawla," 9/5/20

 

Shilani, Hiwa, "ISIS attacks Iraqi border guards in Anbar, leaves 5 casualties: sources," Kurdistan 24, 9/3/20

 

Al Sumaria, "A bomb targeting a truck of a contracting company with the International Coalition in Dhi Qar," 9/3/20

- "The crowd announces the repulsion of an attack by ISIS north of Khanaqin," 9/6/20

- "An explosive device exploded south of Baghdad," 9/7/20

- "Federal Police repelled an attack against ISIS and the arrest of one of its members in Kirkuk," 9/2/20

- "A Katyusha missile fell near Baghdad International Airport," 9/6/20

 

Xinhua, "2 wounded in bomb attack targeting U.S.-coalition convoy in Iraq's Baghdad," 9/6/20

- "Iraqi army officer killed during anti-IS operation," 9/3/20