Security In Iraq Dec 1-7, 2022

At the start of December there was a jump in attacks by the Islamic State. This might have been in response to the group announcing the death of its leader Abu Al Hassan Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi. It wanted to show that it was still around after this loss by increasing operations in Iraq.

 

There were a total of 13 security incidents in Iraq reported in the press from December 1-7. That was compared to just 2 the last full week of November. In fact, incidents have been in single digits the last eight weeks.

 

1 incident was by pro-Iran groups that fired rockets a Turkish military base in northern Ninewa. This is a common target of these factions that have largely stopped operating against foreign targets in Iraq recently. In July there were 7 attacks by these groups, going down to 1 in September, 2 in October, and 0 in November. That’s because they have been involved in putting together a new government in Baghdad.

 

That left 12 incidents by the Islamic State. Those took place in Babil (4), Baghdad (2), Karbala (1), Ninewa (3), and Salahaddin (2).

 

They led to 6 deaths and 11 wounded. 1 member of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and 5 Hashd al-Shaabi lost their lives while 2 ISF and 9 Hashd were wounded.

 

The biggest change in violence between this week and previous ones was the killing of four suicide bombers in two separate incidents. In Karbala two bombers were killed which led to the deaths of 1 Hashd and 4 others wounded. In Babil two more bombers were intercepted with no casualties. The security forces often report suicide bombers but it usually turns out they just found a cache with suicide belts in them. These were actual Islamic State members on missions. The last time Iraq witnessed any such incidents was in August. These types of attacks along with car bombs have almost disappeared in the country as the insurgency is struggling to survive and no longer has its extensive networks throughout Iraq.

 

Of the other 10 incidents three of them were offensive in nature. In Ninewa an army unit was attacked and rockets were fired at Makhmour in the disputed territories. There was another attack upon the Hashd in the Baiji district in Salahaddin. Otherwise the militants were focused simply upon maintaining control over the rural areas they operate in.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7
Babil	4
Baghdad	2
Karbala	1
Ninewa	4/1 Pro-Iran
Salahaddin	2
TOTAL	13/1

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7
Babil	7 (2K, 5W)
Baghdad	3 (2K, 1W)
Karbala	5 (1K, 4W)
Salahaddin	2 (1K, 1W)
TOTAL	17 (6K, 11W)

 

Security In Iraq 2022

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	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
Jul 22-28	18/7	9	21
Jul 29-31	4	4	4
JUL	43/6	33	54
Aug 1-7	9/1	6	15
Aug 8-14	14	2	14
Aug 15-21	7/2	-	6
Aug 22-28	23/4	14	15
Aug 29-31	4	2	4
AUG	57/7/1	24	54
Sep 1-7	11/1	3	20
Sep 8-14	5	-	12
Sep 15-21	12	4	14
Sep 22-28	10/2 M	2	16
Sep 29-30	3/1 M	-	2
SEP	41/1/3 M	9	64
Oct 1-7	9/2 M	6	16
Oct 8-14	8/2/1 M	5	19
Oct 15-21	6	4	7
Oct 22-28	3	2	1
Oct 29-31	2	-	2
OCT	28/2/3 M	17	45
Nov 1-7	7	1	3
Nov 8-14	6	1	8
Nov 15-21	8	7	17
Nov 22-28	2	1	-
Nov 29-30	-	-	-
NOV	23	10	28
Dec 1-7	13/1	6	11

 

Violence By Province Dec 1-7 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	2.1 incidents/month
Babil	4 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Hashd 5 Wounded 5 Hashd   1 Shooting 2 IEDs 2 Suicide Bombers Killed	4.0 incidents/month	3.0 incidents/month	2.75 incidents/month	2.5 incidents/month	1.8 incidents/month
Baghdad	2 Incidents 2 Killed 2 Hashd 1 Wounded 1 ISF   2 Shootings	33.0 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	7.3 incidents/month	5.6 incidents/ month	3.5 incidents/month
Diyala	-	34.5 incidents/month	30.0 incidents/month	30.6 incidents/month	23.2 incidents/month	13.0 incidents/month
Karbala	1 Incident 1 Killed 1 Hashd 4 Wounded 4 Hashd   2 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kirkuk	-	36.5 incidents/month	18.6 incidents/month	13.9 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	8.3 incidents/month
Ninewa	4/1 Pro-Iran Incidents   1 Shooting 2 Rockets 1 Mortar	20.0 incidents/month	14.0 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	8.4 incidents/month	5.8 incidents/month
Salahaddin	2 Incidents 1 Killed 1 ISF 1 Wounded 1 ISF   1 Shooting 1 IED	21.7 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	11.2 incidents/month	11.5 incidents/month	5.7 incidents/month

 

SOURCES

 

Aldroubi, Mina, “ISIS announces new leader after terrorist chief killed in battle,” The National, 11/30/22

 

Bas News, "Turkish Base in Iraq Attacked with Rockets," 12/3/22

 

Johnston, Holly, "Iraq 'neutralises' suicide bombers in Karbala," The National, 12/6/22

 

NINA, "4 members of the PMF killed and wounded when an IED exploded north of Babylon," 12/6/22

- "Civil Defense: Bombing a house in Bashiqa district, north of Mosul, with a mortar," 12/4/22

- "The Popular Mobilization Authority mourns Al-Dhalimi as a martyr in Jurf al-Nasr," 12/6/22

- "The Popular Mobilization repelled an attack by ISIS in Salah Al-Din," 12/6/22

- "A security source: The Iraqi army repelled an ISIS attack southeast of Mosul," 12/4/22

- "Two members of the Popular Mobilization Forces were injured when an explosive device exploded north -"Two suicide bombers killed in Jurf al-Nasr, north of Babylon," 12/6/22

 

Shafaq News, "Behbehani attack in Karbala .. The injury ends the life of a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces," 12/6/22

- "A member of the Iraqi army was injured and a terrorist was arrested in Baghdad," 12/5/22

- "A victim and an injured in an explosion targeting the security forces in Salah al-Din," 12/7/22

 

Al Sumaria, "Rocket bombing near Makhmour camp," 12/4/22

 

Xinhua, "2 IS militants, 2 security members killed in Iraq," 12/7/22