Security In Iraq Dec 1-7, 2023

The Islamic State continues to disappear in Iraq but pro-Iran factions are continuing their campaign against US targets in the country over the war in Gaza.

 

There were a total of 10 security incidents reported in Iraq from December 1-7.

 

2 of those were by the Islamic State. In Ninewa there were back to back attacks by the group in the Makhmour district of Ninewa. The first was on a checkpoint that left 1 soldier dead and 5 wounded. Then the group attacked a nearby village that injured another 4 soldiers. Makhmour is a disputed area of Iraq which has frequently seen insurgent attacks to test the security forces there.

 

The other 8 incidents during the week were all by pro-Iran groups. In Anbar, there were four drone attacks upon the Ain Al-Asad airbase. In Irbil the Irbil airport and the Harir Airbase were also targeted with drones. Those have been struck since the start of these operations in October.

 

December marked an escalation however. First, rockets were fired at the Green Zone for the first time. The last time that happened was in October 2022. That was likely in response to the Biden administration retaliating against Harakat Al-Nujaba in Kirkuk that killed 5 members and wounded 5 more and an earlier series of strikes on Kataib Hezbollah in November.

 

Factions also fired rockets from Rabia in western Ninwea towards a US base in eastern Syria.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7
Anbar	4 Pro-Iran
Baghdad	1 Pro-Iran
Irbil	2 Pro-Iran
Ninewa	3/1 Pro-Iran
TOTAL	10/8 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7
Ninewa	10 (1K, 9W)
TOTAL	10 (1K, 9W)

 

Security In Iraq 2022-23

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
Jan 1-7	18/9 Pro-Iran	3	4
Jan 8-14	35/21 Pro-Iran	3	18
Jan 15-21	12/5 Pro-Iran	17	12
Jan 22-28	16/3 Pro-Iran	8	19
Jan 29-31	6/2 Pro-Iran	2	6
JAN	87/41 Pro-Iran	33	59
Feb 1-7	11/3 Pro-Iran	1	10
Feb 8-14	14/6 Pro-Iran	8	3
Feb 15-21	9/1 Pro-Iran	-	11
Feb 22-28	8/4 Pro-Iran	1	5
FEB	42/14 Pro-Iran	10	29
Mar 1-7	7/3 Pro-Iran	1	-
Mar 8-14	18/3/1 Pro-Iran	6	5
Mar 15-21	10/4 Pro-Iran	5	6
Mar 22-28	6/1 Pro-Iran	7	4
Mar 29-31	4/1 Pro-Iran	-	5
MAR	46/12/1 Pro-Iran	19	21
Apr 1-7	16/8 Pro-Iran	-	6
Apr 8-14	21/7 Pro-Iran	8	25
Apr 15-21	22/2 Pro-Iran	10	22
Apr 22-28	44/4 Pro-Iran	14	44
Apr 29-30	6/1 Pro-Iran	2	6
APR	111/22 Pro-Iran	34	103
May 1-7	31/3 Pro-Iran	8	25
May 8-14	9/2 Pro-Iran	2	7
May 15-21	18/6 Pro-Iran	10	6
May 22-28	13/1 Pro-Iran	21	11
May 29-31	2/1 Pro-Iran	-	2
MAY	73/13 Pro-Iran	41	51
Jun 1-7	6/2 Pro-Iran	-	8
Jun 8-14	12/4 Pro-Iran	1	9
Jun 15-21	10/2 Pro-Iran	5	2
Jun 22-28	12/6 Pro-Iran	1	14
Jun 29-30	-	-	-
JUN	40/14 Pro-Iran	7	33
Jul 1-7	7/1 Pro-Iran	6	11
Jul 8-14	3	-	2
Jul 15-21	11/2 Pro-Iran	14	16
Jul 22-28	18/7 Pro-Iran	9	21
Jul 29-31	4	4	4
JUL	43/6 Pro-Iran	33	54
Aug 1-7	9/1 Pro-Iran	6	15
Aug 8-14	14	2	14
Aug 15-21	7/2 Pro-Iran	-	6
Aug 22-28	23/4 Pro-Iran	14	15
Aug 29-31	4	2	4
AUG	57/7/1 Pro-Iran	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 Pro-Iran	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 Pro-Iran	42	38
Jan 1-7	7	4	2
Jan 8-14	6/1 Pro-Iran	5	2
Jan 15-21	11/1 Pro-Iran	2	7
Jan 22-28	5/2 Pro-Iran	1	2
Jan 29-31	1	-	2
JAN	29/4 Pro-Iran	12	15
Feb 1-7	6/2 Pro-Iran	1	5
Feb 8-14	1	-	2
Feb 15-21	4	4	8
Feb 22-28	9/1 Pro-Iran	7	3
FEB	20/3 Pro-Iran	12	18
Mar 1-7	3	10	4
Mar 8-14	2	2	1
Mar 15-21	2	1	3
Mar 22-28	1	2	-
Mar 29-31	1	3	-
MAR	9	18	8
Apr 1-7	5	1	7
Apr 8-14	4	-	1
Apr 15-21	5	3	-
Apr 22-28	2	1	-
Apr 29-30	1	1	-
APR	16	6	8
May 1-7	2	1	1
May 8-14	6	4	3
May 15-21	3	2	6
May 22-28	3	1	3
May 29-31	2	-	3
MAY	15	8	14
Jun 1-7	-	-	-
Jun 8-14	4	7	4
Jun 15-21	2	1	2
Jun 22-28	4	2	4
Jun 29-30	-	-	-
JUN	10	10	10
Jul 1-7	1	-	-
Jul 8-14	3	2	1
Jul 15-21	2	-	1
Jul 22-28	2	-	2
Jul 29-31	3/2 Pro-Iran	-	-
JUL	11/2 Pro-Iran	2	4
Aug 1-7	4	-	4
Aug 8-14	2	1	3
Aug 15-21	2	-	5
Aug 22-28	2	-	2
Aug 29-31	3/1 Pro-Iran	1	9
AUG	13/1 Pro-Iran	2	23
Sep 1-7	1	-	1
Sep 8-14	1	1	-
Sep 15-21	2	-	4
Sep 22-28	1	1	1
Sep 29-30	-	-	-
SEP	5	2	6
Oct 1-7	-	-	-
Oct 8-14	-	-	-
Oct 15-21	7 Pro-Iran	-	-
Oct 22-28	7/5 Pro-Iran	-	8
Oct 29-31	3 Pro-Iran	-	-
OCT	17/15 Pro-Iran	-	8
Nov 1-7	11/9	4	2
Nov 8-14	12/10	-	3
Nov 15-21	6 Pro-Iran	-	8 Amer
Nov 22-28	4 Pro-Iran	-	-
Nov 29-30	2	11	16
NOV	35/29 Pro-Iran	15	29
Dec 1-7	10/8 Pro-Iran	1	9

 

SOURCES

 

Bas News, "IS Militants Attack Iraqi Army in Makhmour, Four Soldiers Injured," 12/2/23

 

Knights, Michael Al-Kaabi, Amir Malik, Hamdi, "Tracking Anti-U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria During the Gaza Crisis," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 12/3/23

 

Mahmoud, Sinan, "Rockets fired towards Iraq's Green Zone, security officials say," The National, 12/8/23

 

NINA, "Ain Al-Assad Base Targeted With A Drone," 12/4/23

- "A drone targets US forces at Ain asl-Assad base in Iraq," 12/6/23

- "ISIS Attacks a military point in Makhmour" 12/2/23

- "A military force besieges members of ISIS gang in a village in Makhmour," 12/2/23

- "Targeting Ain al-Assad base with a drone," 12/6/23

 

Rudaw, "ISIS attack in Makhmour kills Iraqi soldier: Peshmerga," 12/3/23

 

Salem, Amr, "9 rockets hit Green Zone whiel parliament electing a country's president," 10/13/22

 

Shafaq News, "Armed factions announce a new targeting of the Harir base in Erbil," 12/6/23

- "Iraqi factions resume their attacks and announce the bombing of an American base at Erbil airport," 12/2/23

- "Launching missiles from Rabia district, west of Mosul, towards Syrian territory," 12/3/23