Security In Iraq Sep 8-14, 2021

Violence shot back up in Iraq during the second week of September. That was marked by the Islamic State returning to operations in Diyala. Pro-Iran groups also carried out a few attacks upon American targets.

 

There were a total of 28 security incidents recorded in Iraq from September 8-14. That was up from 20 the week before. Since the spring there have been jumps in attacks, but they only last for a few weeks. Then there is a dip and then they go back up. That coincided with the Islamic State’s annual spring and summer offensives. It’s yet to be seen whether the September activity is a new pattern or not.

 

3 of those incidents were by pro-Iran groups. They hit two convoys working for the U.S. in Diwaniya and Muthanna. More importantly there was a drone strike on the Irbil airport. Despite that the pace of attacks by these factions is down this month.

 

There were 25 incidents by the Islamic State. That was up from 17 the first week of the month. Those were across Anbar (1), Diyala (15), Irbil (1), Kirkuk (3), Ninewa (3), and Salahaddin (2).

 

That left 24 dead and 36 wounded. 9 civilians and 15 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) lost their lives and 9 civilians, 12 Hashd al-Shaabi and 15 ISF were injured. Diyala had the most casualties with 30.

 

Anbar and Ninewa continued to see few incidents. There was a gun battle in Amiriya that left three Hashd wounded in Anbar. In Ninewa there was an IED and two shootings. These two governorates are used as logistics hubs for the insurgency. IS is constantly smuggling men and material from Syria into these two areas who are then ferried to other parts of Iraq.

 

During the spring and summer offensives IS moved away from its main base in Diyala. This week IS made its return there. There were 15 incidents in Diyala the most of any province. There were four incidents on September 12 and another five on September 14. Most of those were attacks on checkpoints. There was also a motorcycle bomb aimed at a convoy of a former parliamentarian. The militants are also moving away from their traditional areas of Muqdadiya and Khanaqin in the center and northeast to the northwest along the Salahaddin border. IS constantly moves through this area but now it is becoming a focus for attacks.

 

Violence in Kirkuk and Salahaddin have dipped after they were the focus over the last two months. There were two shoot outs in Kirkuk with one leaving four police dead and three more wounded. The biggest incident in Salahaddin was an assault upon a town.

 

IS continues to hit the Makhmour district in southern Irbil. This time they attacked a village and killed four soldiers and injured eight Hashd. The insurgents are exploiting the gap between the ISF and Peshmerga in this disputed area.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Sep 1-7	Sep 8-14
Anbar	1	1
Babil	4/2 Pro-Iran	-
Diwaniya	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	4	15
Irbil	3	2/1 Pro-Iran
Kirkuk	2	3
Muthanna	-	1 Pro-Iran
Ninewa	2	3
Salahaddin	3	2
TOTAL	20/3 Pro-Iran	28/3 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Sep 1-7	Sep 8-14
Anbar	1 (1K)	3 (3W)
Babil	3 (1K, 2W)	-
Diyala	6 (6W)	30 (13K, 17W)
Irbil	5 (4K, 1W)	12 (4K, 8W)
Kirkuk	29 (16K, 13W)	9 (4K, 5W)
Ninewa	2 (2W)	4 (2K, 2W)
Salahaddin	-	2 (1K, 1W)
TOTAL	46 (22K, 24W)	60 (24K, 36W)

 

Attacks by Pro-Iran Groups Aug-Sep 2021

8/1/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil 3 Fijians killed, Diwaniya
8/4/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar
8/5/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Diwaniya
8/8/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Baghdad, Dhi Qar
8/10/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
8/13/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Diwaniya
8/15/21	IED dismantled - Diwaniya
8/16/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad
8/17/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Anbar, Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Salahaddin
8/19/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil,
	IEDs dismantled – Babil, Diwaniya
8/24/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil x2, Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Diwaniya x2, Muthanna
8/27/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Basra
8/28/21	Rockets – Kuwait
8/31/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Diwaniya
	August Totals – 28 (2) – 3 Fijians killed
9/4/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil, Diwaniya
9/6/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Babil
9/8/21	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Diwaniya
9/11/21	Drone – Irbil International Airport
9/12/12	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Muthanna
	September Totals - 6

 

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
Jul 22-28	10/1	10	7
Jul 29-31	16/5	30	30
JUL	110/20	106	164
Aug 1-7	44/5	12	19
Aug 8-14	31/6	17	23
Aug 15-21	25/8	12	18
Aug 22-28	21/9	8	10
Aug 29-31	12/2	5	12
AUG	133/30	54	82
Sep 1-7	20/3	22	24
Sep 8-14	28/3	24	36

 

Violence By Province Sep 8-14, 2021

Province	Violence
Anbar	1 Incident 3 Wounded 3 Hashd   1 Shooting
Diwaniya	1 Pro-Iran Incident   1 IED
Diyala	15 Incidents 13 Killed 5 ISF 8 Civilians 17 Wounded 1 Hashd 8 Civilians 8 ISF   11 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Motorcycle Bomb 1 Grenade
Irbil	2/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 4 Killed 4 ISF 8 Wounded 8 Hashd   1 Shooting 1 Drone
Kirkuk	3 Incidents 4 Killed 4 ISF 5 Wounded 5 ISF   2 Shootings 1 IED
Muthanna	1 Pro-Iran Incident   1 IED
Ninewa	3 Incidents 2 Killed 1 Civilian 1 ISF 2 Wounded 2 ISF   2 Shootings 1 IED
Salahaddin	2 Incidents 1 Killed 1 ISF 1 Wounded 1 Civilian   1 Shooting 1 Sticky Bomb

 

SOURCES

 

NINA, "A Convoy Of Logistical Support For The Int'l Coalition Forces Targeted With An IED In Al-Diwaniyah Governorate," 9/8/21

- "An Explosive Device Kills Two Young Men Northwest Of Baquba," 9/10/21

- "Five Soldiers Killed And Wounded In Two ISIS Attacks In Diyala," 9/12/21

- "Four People Injured In An Armed Attack On A House In The Center Of Baquba," 9/9/21

- "A Number Of People Injured In A Booby-Trapped Motorcycle Targeted The Convoy Of A Former MP In Kanaan District, Diyala," 9/14/21

- "Security source: Two soldiers were wounded in an ISIS attack south of Mosul," 9/14/21

- "A soldier and a fighter in the Popular Mobilization were wounded in an attack by ISIS gangs in Diyala," 9/11/21

- "Soldier Martyred Of Wounds In An ISIS Attack Northeast Of Baquba," 9/15/21

- "Three ISIS elements killed and others wounded in Kirkuk," 9/12/21

- "Thwarting an attack and infiltration by ISIS in Diyala," 9/3/21

- "Two members of the Federal Police were injured in an explosive device explosion south of Kirkuk," 9/12/21

- "Unidentified Gunmen Assassinate An Employee In Nineveh Municipalities, West Of Mosul," 9/13/21

 

NRT, "Four Iraqi Soldiers Killed, Eight Members Of Tribal Forces Wounded In Makhmour," 9/11/21

- "ISIS Militants Abduct, Murder Tribal Sheikh In Diyala," 9/10/21

 

Reuters, "Drone attack hits near U.S. forces in Erbil, northern Iraq - officials," 9/11/21

 

Shafaq News, "3 members of the crowd were wounded in an ISSI attack in Anbar," 9/11/21

- "An explosion kills an Iraqi soldier south of Mosul," 9/13/21

- "An explosion targets a support convoy for the international coalition in southern Iraq," 9/12/21

 

Al Sumaria, "An armed group attacks a village in Salahaddin and kills an officer with the rank of captain," 9/14/21

- "A civilian was injured in a bomb explosion in Salahaddin," 9/9/21

 

Xinhua, "3 killed in IS attacks in Iraq," 9/15/21

- "3 soldiers killed in IS attacks in eastern Iraq," 9/13/21

- "6 IS militants, 4 security members killed in attacks in northern Iraq," 9/12/21