Security In Iraq Jan 22-28, 2023

The Islamic State went back to barely being active in Iraq while pro-Iran groups carried out two attacks during the fourth week of January.

 

There was a total of 5 security incidents reported in Iraq from January 22-28. That compared to 11 the third week, 6 the second week and 7 the first week. This is all within the norm set last year when the insurgency hit a new low while pro-Iran groups dropped off their activities starting in the fall.

 

Pro-Iran groups carried out two attacks during the week. That included an IED on a convoy working for the U.S. in Yusifiya in southern Baghdad. There was a similar attack in the same town the week before. Rockets were also fired at the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniya. It was hit by rockets the second week of January as well. The field had been attacked during talks to form a new government to intimidate the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The point behind the current attacks is yet to be determined. Overall incidents by these factions took a dramatic drop in September 2022 and have not recovered since then.

 

There were just three incidents by the Islamic State. The previous week they spiked a bit at 10 but the week before that there was 5 and 7 the first week of January. During 2022 33 of the 48 weeks saw weekly incidents in single digits.

 

Those incidents took place in Baghdad (1), Kirkuk (1) and Ninewa (1).

 

They left 1 dead policeman and 1 civilian 1 police officer wounded. Those took place in Baghdad and Ninewa.

 

In western Baghdad’s Ghaziliya two police were shot. A village was attacked in the Hawija district of southern Kirkuk, and an old IED went off in western Ninewa wounding a child. That meant there were only two actual attacks by the Islamic State during the week. The one in Ghaziliya was the only offensive operation and an area militants had not been active in for months.

 

This represents the current state of the insurgency. It is almost entirely focused upon holding onto its base areas in places like the Hawija district in Kirkuk and is barely able to do much else. It is no longer a threat to the Iraqi state and barely has an impact upon the populace unless they live around IS camps.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28
Baghdad	4	-	1 Pro-Iran	2/1 Pro-Iran
Diyala	2	3	3	-
Kirkuk	-	-	2	1
Ninewa	1	1	2	1
Salahaddin	-	1	2	-
Sulaymaniya	-	1 Pro-Iran	1	1 Pro-Iran
TOTAL	7	6/1 Pro-Iran	11/1 Pro-Iran	5/2 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28
Baghdad	5 (3K, 2W)	-	-	2 (1K, 1W)
Diyala	1 (1K)	3 (3K)	4 (4W)	-
Kirkuk	-	-	2 (2K)	-
Ninewa	-	-	3 (3W)	1 (1W)
Salahaddin	-	4 (2K, 2W)	-	-
TOTAL	6 (4K, 2W)	7 (5K, 2W)	9 (2 K, 7W)	3 (1K, 2W)

 

Security In Iraq 2022-23

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
Dec 8-14	6	7	8
Dec 15-21	6	29	15
Dec 22-28	6	-	4
Dec 29-31	2	-	-
DEC	33/1	42	38
Jan 1-7	7	4	2
Jan 8-14	6/1	5	2
Jan 15-21	11/1	2	7
Jan 22-28	5/2	1	2

 

Violence By Province Jan 22-28, 2023

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	2.0 incidents/month
Babil	-	4.0 incidents/month	3.0 incidents/month	2.7 incidents/month	2.5 incidents/month	2.0 incidents/month
Baghdad	2/1 Pro-Iran Incidents 1 Killed 1 ISF 1 Wounded 1 ISF   1 Shooting 1 IED	33.0 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	7.3 incidents/month	5.6 incidents/ month	3.5 incidents/month
Diyala	-	38.6 incidents/month	30.0 incidents/month	30.6 incidents/month	22.8 incidents/month	12.2 incidents/month
Kirkuk	1 Incident   1 Gunfire	36.5 incidents/month	18.6 incidents/month	13.9 incidents/month	11.6 incidents/month	8.2 incidents/month
Ninewa	1 Incident 1 Wounded 1 Civilian   1 IED	20.0 incidents/month	13.2 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	8.4 incidents/month	6.0 incidents/month
Salahaddin	-	21.7 incidents/month	10.6 incidents/month	11.2 incidents/month	11.5 incidents/month	5.5 incidents/month
Sulaymaniya	1 Pro-Iran Incident   1 Rockets
IRAQ	-	166.6 incidents/month	95.5 incidents/month	85.5 incidents/month	69.9 incidents/month	40.2 incidents/month

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "IS Attacks Village Near Hawija," 1/22/23

 

NINA, "A civilian was injured when an explosive device exploded west of Mosul," 1/28/23

- "A convoy of logistical support for the international coalition forces targeted with an explosive device south of Baghdad," 1/26/23

- "Two rockets fell in gas field in Sulaymaniyah," 1/27/23

 

Shafaq News, "Two gunmen attack a police patrol and kill one of its members in Baghdad," 1/25/23