Security In Iraq Jul 15-21, 2022

The insurgency in Iraq remains at its lowest level since 2003. Attacks by the Islamic State remained in single digits while there were only a few incidents by pro-Iran groups.

 

There were a total of 11 security incidents in Iraq reported in the media from July 15-21.

 

Two convoys working for the U.S. were bombed by pro-Iran groups in Salahaddin. These were only the second and third attacks by these factions in July.

 

There were 9 incidents by the Islamic State. Those occurred in Babil (1), Baghdad (1), Diyala (4), Ninewa (1), and Salahaddin (2). Attacks by IS have been in single digits for 7 weeks now. Since the start of the year 18 of the 27 weeks have seen single digit attacks by the group.

 

They resulted in a relatively high number of casualties compared to previous weeks. 14 people were killed consisting of 4 civilians and 10 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Another 16 were wounded, 2 Hashd al-Shaabi, 6 civilians and 8 ISF. There were 15 casualties in Salahaddin 11 in Diyala, and two each in Babil and Ninewa.

 

An IED went off on some Hashd in Babil’s Jurf al-Nasr leaving two wounded. The district is a large Kataib Hezbollah base and a target of opportunity for the Islamic State.

 

A suicide bomber was killed by the security forces in Tarmiya in north Baghdad province. This is a long-time insurgent base. If there are incidents in the capital governorate they usually occur here.

 

There were four incidents in Diyala, an IED and three shootings. Three of those attacks happened in the center of the province and the fourth was in Khanaqin in the northeast. These are the main IS areas in Iraq.

 

IS attacked an army base outside of Mosul killing one soldier and wounding another. This was the second offensive operation of the week. Direct attacks on the security forces like this are rare these days.

 

There were two shootings in Salahaddin. One targeted a checkpoint and killed 6 police and wounded 7 more.

 

Two of the seven incidents during the week were offensive. All were in rural areas of the country. This is the present pattern of Islamic State activity over the last year or two. It is attempting to protect its main operating areas like in Diyala. It rarely attacks government forces outside of those regions and is almost completely absent from Iraq’s cities.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Babil	-	-	1
Baghdad	1	2	1
Diyala	1	1	4
Ninewa	4	-	1
Salahaddin	1 Pro-Iran	-	4/2 Pro-Iran
TOTAL	7/1 Pro-Iran	3	11/2 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jul 1-7	Jul 8-14	Jul 15-21
Babil	-	-	2 (2W)
Baghdad	3 (1K, 2W)	2 (2W)	-
Diyala	7 (2K, 5W)	-	11 (7K, 4W)
Ninewa	7 (3K, 4W)	-	2 (1K, 1W)
Salahaddin	-	-	15 (6K, 9W)
TOTAL	17 (6K, 11W)	2 (2W)	30 (14K, 16W)

 

Attacks by Pro-Iran Groups

	May Total 11 (2) – 1 killed
6/2/22	Drone shot down – Turkish Base, Ninewa
6/5/22	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Salahaddin
6/8/22	Drone – Irbil – 3 wounded
6/9/22	Rockets – Turkish army base, Ninewa
	Rockets – Oil Company, Ninewa
6/12/22	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Salahaddin
6/17/22	Rockets – Turkish army base, Ninewa
6/19/22	2 IEDs – Iraqi intelligence HQ, Baghdad
6/22/22	Rockets – Sheikhan, Ninewa
	Rockets – Khor Mor gas field, Sulaymaniya
6/24/22	Rockets – Khor Mor gas field, Sulaymaniya
6/25/22	Rockets – Khor Mor gas field, Sulaymaniya
6/26/22	Rockets – Turkish army base, Ninewa
	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US - Basra
	June Total 13 (1) – 5 wounded
7/3/22	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Salahaddin
7/19/22	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Salahaddin
7/21/22	IED on convoy carrying supplies to US – Salahaddin
	July Total 3

 

Security In Iraq 2021-22

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
Nov 8-14	15/1	11	18
Nov 15-21	14/4	2	4
Nov 22-28	15/4	10	14
Nov 29-30	3/1	1	3
NOV	67/12	27	59
Dec 1-7	17/2	29	22
Dec 8-14	14/4	4	6
Dec 15-21	22/8	11	12
Dec 22-28	18/8	11	27
Dec 29-31	7/1	5	4
DEC	78/23	56	67
Jan 1-7, 2022	18/9	3	4
Jan 8-14	35/21	3	18
Jan 15-21	12/5	17	12
Jan 22-28	16/3	8	19
Jan 29-31	6/2	2	6
JAN	87/41	33	59
Feb 1-7	11/3	1	10
Feb 8-14	14/6	8	3
Feb 15-21	9/1	-	11
Feb 22-28	8/4	1	5
FEB	42/14	10	29
Mar 1-7	7/3	1	-
Mar 8-14	18/3/1	6	5
Mar 15-21	10/4	5	6
Mar 22-28	6/1	7	4
Mar 29-31	4/1	-	5
MAR	46/12/1	19	21
Apr 1-7	16/8	-	6
Apr 8-14	21/7	8	25
Apr 15-21	22/2	10	22
Apr 22-28	44/4	14	44
Apr 29-30	6/1	2	6
APR	111/22	34	103
May 1-7	31/3	8	25
May 8-14	9/2	2	7
May 15-21	18/6	10	6
May 22-28	13/1	21	11
May 29-31	2/1	-	2
MAY	73/13	41	51
Jun 1-7	6/2	-	8
Jun 8-14	12/4	1	9
Jun 15-21	10/2	5	2
Jun 22-28	12/6	1	14
Jun 29-30	-	-	-
JUN	40/14	7	33
Jul 1-7	7/1	6	11
Jul 8-14	3	-	2
Jul 15-21	11/2	14	16

 

Violence By Province Jul 8-14, 2022

Province	Violence	2018 Avg	2019 Avg	2020 Avg	2021 Avg	2022 Avg
Anbar	-	12.6 incidents/ month	8.6 incidents/ month	7.0 incidents/ month	4.6 incidents/ month	3.5 incidents/month
Babil	1 Incident 2 Wounded 2 Hashd   1 IED	4.0 incidents/month	3.0 incidents/month	2.75 incidents/month	2.5 incidents/month	2.0 incidents/month
Baghdad	1 Incident   1 Suicide Bomber Killed	33.0 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	7.3 incidents/month	5.6 incidents/ month	2.5 incidents/month
Diyala	4 Incidents 7 Killed 3 ISF 4 Civilians 4 Wounded 4 Civilians   3 Shootings	34.5 incidents/month	30.0 incidents/month	30.6 incidents/month	23.2 incidents/month	15.3 incidents/month
Ninewa	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 ISF 1 Wounded 1 ISF   2 Shootings	20.0 incidents/month	14.0 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	8.4 incidents/month	6.6 incidents/month
Salahaddin	4/2 Pro-Iran Incidents 6 Killed 6 ISF 9 Wounded 2 Civilians 7 ISF   2 Shootings 2 IEDs	21.7 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	11.2 incidents/month	11.5 incidents/month	6.6 incidents/month

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "IED Blast Injures Four outside Khanaqin," 7/18/22

- "IS Kills Six Iraqi Policeman, Injures Seven," 7/20/22

 

NINA, "A Convoy Of Logistical Support For The Int'l Coalition Forces Targeted With An IED, South of Salah al-Din," 7/19/22

- "A Convoy Of Logistical Support For The Int'l Coalition Targeted With An IED, South Of Salah al-Din," 7/21/22

- "Gunmen Assassinate Owner Of A Generator In Diyala," 7/21/22

- "Injures in an armed attack on a civilian vehicle west of Samarra," 7/16/22

- "A Taxi Driver Killed In Diyala," 7/17/22

- "Three brothers and two children were killed in the Mansouriya attack in Diyala," 7/21/22

 

Al Sumaria, "Two members of the crowd were injured in a bomb explosion in Jurf al-Nasr," 7/21/22

 

Xinhua, "Iraqi soldier, IS militants killed in Iraq," 7/17/22