Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Security In Iraq Nov 1-7, 2021


Security in Iraq has remained stable for the last seven weeks. Islamic State attacks have remained in the teens to twenties each week. Pro-Iran groups on the other hand made a major escalation with an attempt upon the life of Prime Minister Mustaf al-Kazemi.

 

There were a total of 20 security incidents reported in the media in Iraq from November 1-7.

 

They left 3 dead, consisting of 3 Hashd, and 21 wounded, 5 Hashd, 8 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and 8 civilians. Diyala had the most casualties with 8.


 

Two of the incidents were by pro-Iran groups. They fired rockets at a Turkish military base in Ninewa. These factions consider Ankara’s presence in northern Iraq as a foreign occupation and have occasionally attacked their bases as a result. More importantly a Hashd group launched a drone strike upon PM Kazemi’s residence in Baghdad’s Green Zone slightly wounding the premier and five of his bodyguards. Various Hashd al-Shaabi groups are members of the Fatah list which did poorly in October’s election and trying to use violence to change the results.

 

18 incidents were by the Islamic State. Those occurred in Anbar (1), Babil (2), Diyala (6), Kirkuk (4), Ninewa (2), Salahaddin (1), and Sulaymaniya (2).

 

Anbar and Ninewa have few incidents as IS is more interested in using the two provinces to move in people and material from Syria. In Anbar a checkpoint was attacked in the Rutba district in the west that left four soldiers wounded. In Ninewa an old IED went off in Hamam al-Alil that wounded two and there was a gun battle.

 

Babil is a target of opportunity. IS regularly targets the Jurf al-Sakhr district in the northeast which is a large Hashd base. During the week there was a shootout and an IED both targeting the Hashd in that area.

 

Diyala is where IS is usually the most active in Iraq. During the week there were six incidents, all low level with five shootings plus some IEDs that were unsuccessfully dismantled by the Hashd that left two wounded.

 

Kirkuk and Salahaddin have seen attacks go up and down every week. The insurgents launched two major attacks in Kirkuk, one involved gun and mortar fire and the other was when an army base was hit with mortars. In Salahaddin a checkpoint was assaulted.

 

The Islamic State is also testing security around the country. Before it was probing the disputed areas of southern Irbil which is divided between the peshmerga and the ISF. This week it carried out two attacks in Kifri, Sulaymaniya. The group appears to be looking for new areas it can operate in which is a step up in its overall operations despite the total number of incidents remaining low.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province

Nov 1-7

Anbar

1

Babil

2

Baghdad

1 Pro-Iran

Diyala

6

Kirkuk

4

Ninewa

3/1 Pro-Iran

Salahaddin

1

Sulaymaniya

2

TOTAL

20/2 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province

Nov 1-7

Anbar

4 (4W)

Babil

1 (1K)

Baghdad

6 (6W)

Diyala

7 (1K, 6W)

Ninewa

2 (2W)

Salahaddin

3 (1K, 2W)

TOTAL

23 (3K, 20W)

 

 

September Totals – 11

10/13/21

IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Basra

10/19/21

IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar

10/21/21

3 IEDs dismantled – Babil

10/22/21

IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Dhi Qar

10/28/21

IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Baghdad

10/31/21

Rockets – Landed in Mansour, Baghdad

 

October Totals – 5 (1)

11/7/21

Drone Strike – PM Kazemi’s residence – 6 Wounded

 

Rockets – Turkish military base, Bashiqa, Ninewa

 

November Totals – 2 – 6 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

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

21/3

12

24

Sep 8-14

28/3

24

36

Sep 15-21

13/1

5

17

Sep 22-28

17/4

13

9

Sep 29-30

2

-

-

SEP

81/11

54

86

Oct 1-7

17

11

22

Oct 8-14

14/1

4

13

Oct 15-21

9/2

3

2

Oct 22-28

21/1/1

36

42

Oct 29-31

11/1

7

7

OCT

72/6/1

61

86

Nov 1-7

20/2

3

20

 

Violence By Province Nov 1-7, 2021

Province

Violence

2018 Avg

2019 Avg

2020 Avg

2021 Avg

Anbar

1 Incident

4 Wounded

4 ISF

 

1 Shooting

12.6 incidents/

month

8.6 incidents/ month

7.0 incidents/ month

5.3 incidents/ month

Babil

2 Incidents

1 Killed

1 Hashd

 

1 Shooting

1 IED

4.0 incidents/month

3.0 incidents/month

2.75 incidents/month

2.6 incidents/month

Baghdad

1 Pro-Iran Incident

6 Wounded

6 Civilians

 

1 Drone Strike

33.0 incidents/month

11.6 incidents/month

7.3 incidents/month

6.7 incidents/ month

Diyala

6 Incidents

1 Killed

1 Hashd

6 Wounded

2 Hashd

4 ISF

 

5 Shootings

1 IED

34.5 incidents/month

30.0 incidents/month

30.6 incidents/month

22.9 incidents/month

Kirkuk

4 Incidents

 

2 Shootings

1 Mortar

36.5 incidents/month

18.6 incidents/month

13.9 incidents/month

12.3 incidents/month

Ninewa

3/1 Pro-Iran Incidents

2 Wounded

2 Civilians

 

1 Shooting

1 IED
1 Rockets

20.0 incidents/month

14.0 incidents/month

10.6 incidents/month

8.7 incidents/month

Salahaddin

1 Incident

1 Killed

1 Hashd

2 Wounded

2 Hashd

 

1 Shooting

21.7 incidents/month

10.6 incidents/month

11.2 incidents/month

12.3 incidents/month

Sulaymaniya

2 Incidents

 

1 Shooting

1 IED

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "IS Attacks Hashd Al-Shaabi in Ninevah," 11/7/21

- "Multiple Rockets Fired at Turkish Base near Mosul," 11/7/21

 

Buratha News, "The thwarting of an ISIS attack in Jurf Al-Nasr by the 47th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization," 11/5/21

 

Mahmoud, Sinan, “Iraqi PM Al Kadhimi escapes drone assassination attempt in Baghdad,” The National, 11/7/21

 

NINA, "2 Of The PMF Injured In An Operation To Track Down ISIS Remnants In Hamrin Mountains," 11/3/21

- "Federal Police and Popular Mobilization Forces Repel An ISIS Attack South of Kirkuk," 11/4/21

- "An ISIS Attack On A Military Point Near Jalawla In Diyala," 11/5/21

- "The martyrdom of a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces north of Babylon," 11/6/21

- "The martyrdom of a Popular Mobilization fighter in Akbashi sector, northeast of Baquba," 11/2/21

- "An officer was injured in a clash with armed men in Abu Saida district, in Diyala," 11/3/21

- "Two civilians were wounded by an explosive device left behind by ISIS, south of Mosul," 11/6/21

- "Two security personnel were wounded in a night attack northeast of Baquba," 11/7/21

 

NRT, "Peshmerga Repel ISIS Attack Near Prde," 11/4/21

- "Peshmerga Targeted By IED Near Kifri: Commander," 11/7/21

 

Rudaw, "Peshmerga foils ISIS attack in Kifri: ministry," 11/5/21

 

Shafaq News, "3 soldiers injured while repelling an ISIS attack in Anbar," 11/4/21

- "Kirkuk .. A mortar attack on the headquarters of the Iraqi army," 11/5/21

- "Salahaddin .. ISIS attacks the crowd and causes a victim and two wounded," 11/5/21

- "Thwarting an ISIS attack in Diyala," 11/8/21

 

 

No comments:

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was mentioned in this article by Aaron Zelin on the Islamic State's attempted comeback "Remaining, Waiting for Expansion (Again):...