Security In Iraq Jul 15-21, 2021

Violence in Iraq declined for the second week. Incidents by both the Islamic State and pro-Iran groups went down during the third week of July 2021. The insurgents were able to launch a mass casualty bombing in Baghdad however.

 

There were a total of 20 security incidents recorded in Iraq from July 15-21. 1 was by pro-Iran factions with the other 19 by the Islamic State. That was down from 25 the week before and 38 the first week of the month.

 

Incidents by groups working with Iran went from 9 the first week of July to 4 the second and just 1 the third week. An IED hit a supply convoy working for the U.S. in Dhi Qar on July 15. These factions have been increasing their rhetoric against the American presence in Iraq, but their attacks have gone down during the same period. There have been a total of 11 incidents by these factions in July.

 

There were 19 incidents by the Islamic State during the third week of July. Those occurred in Anbar (4), Babil (3), Baghdad (3), Diyala (3), Irbil (1), Kirkuk (2), Ninewa (2), and Salahaddin (1). The second week of July there were 21 attacks, 29 the week before and 17 the last full week of June. Attacks by the militants always goes up and down in the country.

 

The week’s attacks resulted in 48 dead and 75 wounded. 1 Hashd al-Shaabi, 8 members of the security forces (ISF) and 39 civilians were killed while 2 Hashd, 7 ISF and 66 civilians were injured. Baghdad had the most casualties with 96. This was the most weekly casualties since the third week of January.

 

Anbar and Ninewa are logistics hubs for the insurgency. They usually only see a few incidents per month but that has changed in July. Anbar had four attacks this week that included a gun battle and a power tower blown up in IS’s campaign against the electricity grid during the summer. Ninewa saw one IED and another dismantled by a power tower.

 

Baghdad saw 3 incidents including a suicide bombing at a market in Sadr City that left 35 dead and 59 wounded. It was the second deadliest incident in the capital this year. The worst was when two suicide bombers hit the center of the city on January 21 killing 32 and injuring another 110. There were also two shootings that left 2 ISF members dead. IS has a cell operating in the Tarmiya district in the northern section of the governorate. Now it might be restarting in the south as well. Overall, it appears that IS is launching a new attempt to infiltrate the province and hit the center of the city.

 

Babil is a target of opportunity for the Islamic State. It almost always hits the Jurf al-Sakhr district in the northeast which is a large Kataib Hezbollah base with army units stationed around it. During the third week of July there was an IED that wounded 2 Hashd and two infiltration attempts.

 

In the Makhmour area of southern Irbil the insurgents captured a tribal Hashd member and executed him. This part of the province has seen sporadic attacks throughout the year.

 

There was a spike in violence in Kirkuk and Salahaddin at the start of the month which has since ended. There were just two shootings in Kirkuk during the week, but one was an assault upon an Army camp in the Dibs district that killed 4 soldiers. A similar incident occurred in Salahaddin that left 2 army fatalities and 3 injured. IS has camps in southern Kirkuk and southeast Salahaddin but is concentrating on rebuilding its cadres rather than carrying out violence in the two governorates.

 

Diyala is the heart of the Islamic State in Iraq. There were two shootings and an ISF member had his house bombed. One incident was in the Khanaqin district in the northeast and the other two in Muqdadiya in the center. These are the main areas IS has asserted control of since its defeat in 2017.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Anbar	7/3 Pro-Iran	2/1 Pro-Iran	4
Babil	1 pro-Iran	-	3
Baghdad	7/2 Pro-Iran	4/1 Pro-Iran	3
Basra	-	1 Pro-Iran	-
Dhi Qar	-	-	1 Pro-Iran
Diwaniya	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran	-
Diyala	4	4	3
Irbil	1 Pro-Iran	1	1
Kirkuk	5	4	2
Ninewa	6	4	2
Salahaddin	6/1 Pro-Iran	4	1
TOTAL	38/9 Pro-Iran	25/4 Pro-Iran	20/1 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Anbar	19 (5K, 14W)	-	6 (3K, 3W)
Babil	-	-	2 (2W)
Baghdad	-	2 (2K)	96 (37K, 59W)
Diyala	7 (5K, 2W)	-	4 (4W)
Irbil	-	-	1 (1K)
Kirkuk	2 (2W)	8 (3K, 5W)	7 (5K, 2W)
Ninewa	6 (6W)	10 (1K, 9W)	2 (2W)
Salahaddin	12 (1K, 11W)	4 (1K, 3W)	5 (2K, 3W)
TOTAL	46 (11K, 35W)	24 (7K, 17W)	123 (48K, 75W)

 

Attacks by Pro-Iran Groups July 2021

7/2/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Salahaddin
	Rockets dismantled - Baghdad
7/4/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Baghdad
7/5/21	Rockets – Anbar’s Ain Al-Asad Base
	Drone shot down - Baghdad
7/6/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Anbar, Diwaniya
	Rockets – Irbil Airport
7/7/21	Rockets – Anbar’s Ain Al-Asad Base – 2 US wounded
7/8/21	Rockets – Baghdad’s Green Zone
7/10/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Anbar
7/11/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Basra
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
7/15/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
	July Totals – 11 (2) – 2 US wounded

 

Security In Iraq 2021

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	21/2	13	19
Jan 8-14	17/3	12	6
Jan 15-21	20/3	52	133
Jan 22-28	10/3	13	12
Jan 29-31	9/1	2	6
JAN	77/13	92	176
Feb 1-7	19/2	11	23
Feb 8-14	11/3	4	8
Feb 15-21	20/7	11	23
Feb 22-28	13/4	13	23
FEB	63/16	39	77
Mar 1-7	19/5	5	8
Mar 8-14	12/2	13	15
Mar 15-21	24/6	8	7
Mar 22-28	14/2	8	13
Mar 29-31	9/5	2	1
MAR	79/20	39	44
Apr 1-7	16/10	3	5
Apr 8-14	15/6	6	18
Apr 15-21	32/4	19	44
Apr 22-28	31/6	15	42
Apr 29-30	12/1	11	23
APR	107/27	54	132
May 1-7	36/8	33	37
May 8-14	31/5	14	25
May 15-21	15/2	3	3
May 22-28	20/9	3	24
May 29-31	11	6	11
MAY	113/24	59	100
Jun 1-7	12/5	6	29
Jun 8-14	22/10	7	7
Jun 15-21	24/4	14	14
Jun 22-28	19/2	10	17
Jun 29-30	5	-	21
JUN	83/21	36	87
Jul 1-7	38/9	11	35
Jul 8-14	25/4	7	17
Jul 15-21	20/1	48	75

 

Violence By Province Jul 15-21, 2021

Province	Violence
Anbar	4 Incidents 3 Killed 3 Civilians 3 Wounded 3 Civilians   2 Shootings 2 IEDs
Babil	3 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 Hashd   1 Shooting 1 IED
Baghdad	3 Incidents 37 Killed 2 ISF 35 Civilians 59 Wounded 59 Civilians   2 Shootings 1 Suicide Bomber
Dhi Qar	1 Pro-Iran Incident   1 IED
Diyala	3 Incidents 4 Wounded 4 ISF   2 Shootings 1 IED
Irbil	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Hashd   1 Shooting
Kirkuk	2 Incidents 5 Killed 1 Civilian 4 ISF 2 Wounded 2 Civilians   2 Shootings
Ninewa	2 Incidents 2 Wounded 2 Civilians   2 IEDs
Salahaddin	1 Incident 2 Killed 2 ISF 3 Wounded 3 ISF   1 Shooting

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "Anbar: Five People Killed, Injured in Fresh IS Attack," 7/19/21

- "Bombing Kills Civilian in Anbar," 7/15/21

 

Iraq Newspaper, "Execution of a member of the tribal mobilization after his capture by the Daesh terrorists in the village of Shayala Al-Abli, west of Makhmour," 7/15/21

 

Al Masalah, "Electricity: An IED attack targeting a high-pressure transmission line in Anbar," 7/19/21

 

Al Monitor, "Dozens killed in Baghdad suicide bombings," 1/21/21

 

NINA, "2 Fighters Of PMF Injured In An IED's Explosion North Of Babylon," 7/15/21

- "An attack targeting a Rapid Response force in Diyala," 7/15/21

- "An Infiltration Attempt By ISIS Terrorists Thwarted North Of Babylon<' 7/17/21

- "Targeting a house of a security element with an explosive device in Diyala," 7/21/21

- "A terrorist attack by ISIS elements repelled north of Babylon<' 7/18/21

- "Three civilians were killed and injured in an armed attack north of Kirkuk," 7/16/21

- "Three soldiers were wounded in an ISIS attack northeast of Baquba," 7/18/21

- "Two civilians were injured when an explosive device left behind by ISIS exploded south of Mosul," 7/18/21

 

Reuters, "Suicide attack in Iraq's Sadr City kills at least 35, wounds dozens," 7/19/21

 

Shafaq News, "'Violent' clashes between ISIS and the crowd in Anbar, and the latter wins," 7/17/21

 

Shilani, Hiwa, "ISIS fighters overrun Kirkuk army barracks, kill 4 soldiers," Kurdistan 24, 7/17/21

 

Al Sumaria, "An explosive device targets a convoy of the International Coalition in Nasiriya," 7/15/21

- "The final toll of the victims of the explosion in east Baghdad," 7/19/21

- "A soldier was killed by armed fire south of Baghdad," 7/15/21

- "Thwarting the bombing of one of the power transmission towers in Ninewa," 7/18/21

- "Unidentified assailants assassinate a security member south of Baghdad," 7/21/21

 

Xinhua, "2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded in IS attack in Iraq: source," 7/21/21

- "Roundup: Deadly blast in Iraqi capital kills at least 28, wounds 66," 7/20/21