Security In Iraq Dec 22-28, 2023

Security news in Iraq during the fourth week of December was once again dominated by pro-Iran groups.

 

There were a total of 7 security incidents reported in Iraq from December 22-28.

 

Only 1 of those was by the Islamic State. In a town in the Tarmiya district in northern Baghdad province grenades were found in front of three houses. The area is a long time IS stronghold and the grenades were probably meant to intimidate the locals. The week before there was also an incident in the district.

 

So far in December the insurgency has carried out 9 attacks. That’s more than the 6 incidents IS was responsible for in all of November.

 

During the week there were 6 attacks made by pro-Iran groups. That compared to just two the week before. Al-Aalem reported that the factions halted their operations for a short period to allow for Iraq’s provincial elections and then re-started them afterwards.

 

In Iraq the Ain Al-Asad airbase in Anbar was assaulted once again. The Irbil airport was hit by a drone which wounded 3 U.S. soldiers. In retaliation the Biden administration struck Kataib Hezbollah in three locations in Babil and Harakat al-Nujaba in Wasit. 1 was killed and 24 wounded as a result. Kataib Hezbollah and Al-Nujaba have been blamed for most of the attacks on US forces in Iraq since the start of the Gaza War in October. This was the second time the Americans have struck back at these groups.

 

The Sudani government responded by calling for the removal of all Coalition forces from Iraq. This has been a long time goal of the many of the parties that make up the ruling Coordination Framework that put the prime minister into office. It’s unclear whether he will actually follow through with this or whether his statement was simply aimed at appeasing the armed groups in his government which are going after the U.S.

 

The week also witnessed a huge escalation as pro-Iran groups claimed they made three attempts to strike Israel. First, a drone was shot down over Jordan which was allegedly aimed at Eilat, Israel. Second, a gas platform in the Mediterranean was also targeted, and third, there was an attempt on the Golan Heights. All three failed.

 

As the Gaza War drags on more of these types of attacks will likely be tried. That could lead Israel to hit Hashd forces in Iraq which it has done before. Things could quickly escalate which the Sudani government has no means to control.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7	Dec 8-14	Dec 15-21	Dec 22-28
Anbar	4 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran	3/2 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Baghdad	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran	1	1
Irbil	2 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran	-	2 Pro-Iran
Israel	-	-	-	3 Pro-Iran
Kirkuk	-	2	-	-
Ninewa	3/1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran	-	-
Salahaddin	-	-	2	-
TOTAL	10/8 Pro-Iran	8/6 Pro-Iran	6/2 Pro-Iran	7/6 Pro-Iran

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Dec 1-7	Dec 8-14	Dec 15-21	Dec 22-28
Baghdad	-	-	1 (1K)	-
Irbil	-	-	-	3 (3WUS)
Kirkuk	-	2 (2W)	-	-
Ninewa	10 (1K, 9W)	-	-	-
Salahaddin	-	-	2 (2W)	-
TOTAL	10 (1K, 9W)	2 (2W)	3 (1K, 2W)	3 (3WUS)

 

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
Dec 8-14	8/6 Pro-Iran	-	2
Dec 15-21	6/2 Pro-Iran	1	2
Dec 22-28	7/6 Pro-Iran	-	3 US

 

SOURCES

 

Al Aalem, “Faction returned with strength .. What is the secret behind the recent cessation of faction attacks against American forces?” 12/26/23

 

Agence France Presse, "US strikes in Iraq leave one dead and 24 injured," 12/26/23

 

Barnea, Yuval, "Iraqi militia attempts drone attack on Eilat, drone intercepted over Jordan," The Jerusalem Post, 12/22/23

 

Al Hurra, “After Al-Sudani’s statements .. Is Iraq able to abandon the international coalition?” 12/28/23

 

Mahmoud, Sinan, “Iran-backed Shiite militias claim Golan Heights attack,” The National, 12/28/23

 

Al Rafidain, "Explosions Rock The Ain Al-Asad Base, West Of Anbar, Where American Forces Are Stationed," 12/27/23

 

Reuters, "Erbil airport operations suspended after booby-trapped drone shot down: Iraq media," 12/25/23

 

Salem, Amr, "Iraqi factions targets Israeli gas rig in the Mediterranean with a drone," Iraqi News, 12/24/23

 

Shafaq News, “About 20 wounded by American bombing on the PMF headquarters in central Babil in response to the targeting of Irbil (video),” 12/26/23

- "Security forces thwart an attempt to bomb 3 homes north of Baghdad," 12/28/23

 

Van Wilgenburg, Wladimir, "Attack on Erbil Air Base leaves no casualties or damage: Pentagon official," Kurdistan 24, 12/27/23