Islamic State Picked Up Attacks In Iraq While Pro-Iran Groups Maintained Campaign Against US And Israel

The Islamic State has been increasing its attacks in Iraq in the last 3 months but they are still insignificant. Pro-Iran groups on the other hand have kept up a steady pace of operations against the U.S. and Israel over the Gaza War.

 

There were a total 42 security incidents reported in Iraq in January 2024. That compared to 35 in December and 35 in November.

 

The reason for the slight increase was more activity by the Islamic State. In January the group was responsible for 13 incidents. This was the first time it reached double figures in a month since August 2023. Its attacks have gone up from an all-time low of just 2 incidents in October to 6 in November to 9 in December. That is still nothing compared to its past. In 2022 for instance, it averaged 33 incidents per month, but it is above 2023’s average of 7 incidents per month.

 

The insurgency was most active in Salahaddin with 7 incidents. That included a very rare attempt at a suicide bombing in Tikrit outside of a Hashd headquarters. This was the first suicide bombing in 3 months and the first attack in an Iraqi city in 9 months. It was definitely attempt by the group to say that it is still active in Iraq.

 

There were 28 incidents by Pro-Iran groups during the month. There were 26 in December, 29 in November and 15 in October when the Gaza War began. There were three main targets in January.

 

Asad airbase in Anbar was attacked 9 times. 8 of those were with drones but there was also a ballistic missile strike that wounded 1 Iraqi solider and 4 U.S. troops. That was a large escalation because there was no way the group responsible didn’t expect casualties using such heavy ordinance.

 

Irbil was struck 7 times with drones hitting the city, airport and the Harir airbase.

 

The Islamic Resistance a collection of pro-Iran Hashd units also claimed 7 drone attacks on Israel.

 

Iran also fired ballistic missiles at Irbil City claiming they were targeting an Israeli intelligence center but landed on a civilian home causing several dead and wounded. This appeared to be a symbolic act to show that Tehran was also fighting Israel during the Gaza War but it backfired by killing civilians.

 

Last, the U.S. carried out two retaliatory strikes in January against pro-Iran groups for their attacks upon American forces in Iraq.

 

The Iranian and American involvement in Iraq is another sign that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is spilling over across the Middle East.

 

Security Incidents In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28	Jan 29-31	Totals
Anbar	2 Pro-Iran	-	3/1 Pro-Iran	6 Pro-Iran		11/9 Pro-Iran
Baghdad	1	1	-	-		2
Diyala	-	1	1 Pro-Iran	-		2/1 Pro-Iran
Irbil	2 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	2 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran		7 Pro-Iran
Israel	2 Pro-Iran	-	1 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran	2 Pro-Iran	7 Pro-Iran
Kirkuk	-	-	-	-	1 Pro-Iran	1 Pro-Iran
Ninewa	-	1 Pro-Iran	1	-		2/1 Pro-Iran
Salahaddin	3	2	2/1 Pro-Iran	1		8/1 Pro-Iran
Sulaymaniya	-	-	-	1 Pro-Iran		1 Pro-Iran
TOTAL	10/6 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	7/3 Pro-Iran	10/6 Pro-Iran	11/10 Pro-Iran	3 Pro-Iran	42/28 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian

 

Casualties In Iraq By Province

Province	Jan 1-7	Jan 8-14	Jan 15-21	Jan 22-28	Jan 29-31	Totals
Anbar	-	-	9 (5K, 4W)	-	-	11 (5K, 6W)
Baghdad	4 (4W)		-	-	-	4 (4 W)
Diyala	-	2 (2W)	-	-	-	2 (2W)
Ninewa	-	-	2 (2W)	-	-	2 (2W)
Salahaddin	10 (5K, 5W)	4 (3K, 1W)	1 (1K)	-	-	15 (9K, 6W)
TOTAL	14 (9K, 5W)	6 (3K, 3W)	12 (6K, 6W)	-	-	34 (14K, 20W)

 

Security In Iraq 2022-23

Week	Security Incidents (Total/By IS)	Dead (Total/By IS)	Wounded (Total/By IS)
JAN 2022	87/41 Pro-Iran	33	59
FEB	42/14 Pro-Iran	10	29
MAR	46/12/1 Pro-Iran	19	21
APR	111/22 Pro-Iran	34	103
MAY	73/13 Pro-Iran	41	51
JUN	40/14 Pro-Iran	7	33
JUL	43/6 Pro-Iran	33	54
AUG	57/7/1 Pro-Iran	24	54
SEP	41/1/3 M	9	64
OCT	28/2/3 M	17	45
NOV	23	10	28
DEC	33/1 Pro-Iran	42	38
JAN 2023	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
Dec 29-31	4 Pro-Iran
DEC	35/26 Pro-Iran	2K	16W
Jan 1-7	10/6 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	5	9
Jan 8-14	7/3 Pro-Iran	3	3
Jan 15-21	10/6 Pro-Iran	6	6
Jan 22-28	11/10 Pro-Iran	-	-
Jan 29-31	3 Pro-Ira	-	-
JAN	42/28 Pro-Iran/1 Iranian	14	20

 

SOURCES

 

Agence France Presse, “Baghdad challenges Iran’s claim that strikes targeted Israel’s intelligence service,” 1/16/24

- "Dozen missiles fired at US-led coalition in Iraq's Al-Asad airbase," 1/20/24

- "Explosive drone targeting coalition troops in Iraq shot down," 1/11/24

 

Bas News, "Militia Group Claims Responsibility for Fresh Attack on Ain Al-Asad," 1/22/24

- "US Forces Shoot Down Drone Over Iraq's Ain al-Asad Base," 1/2/24

 

Farrell, James, "At Least 2 U.S. Soldiers Injured In Attack On Iraqi Base, Report Says," Forbes, 1/20/24

 

Al Hurra, "Agencies: Drone and missiles hit a gas field in northern Iraq," 1/25/24

 

Kurdistan 24, "Explosive drone shot down at Erbil Air Base, says CTD," 1/2/23

 

Mahmoud, Sinan Harisi, Mohamad Ali, “Iranian commander visited Baghdad after deadly strike on US troops to urge de-escalation,” The National, 2/1/24

 

Mahmoud, Sinan Johnston, Holly, "At least five killed in Iran strikes on Iraq and Syria," The National, 1/15/24

 

Middle East Monitor, “Following Yemen’s Houthis, Iraq resistance announces naval blockade on Israel,” 1/24/24

 

NINA, "A bomb-laden drone shot down near Erbil International Airport," 1/18/24

- "Targeting Ain al-Assad base with drones," 1/26/24

- "Targeting Ain al-Assad base with drones," 1/28/24

 

Al Rafidain, "Security Sources: Two Drones Were Shot Down Targeting The Ain Al-Assad Military Base In Anbar," 1/24/24

 

Reuters, "Armed drone targets al-Harir airbase which houses US troops in northern Iraq," 1/5/24

- "Armed drone targets base housing US forces near Iraq's Erbil airport: Sources," 1/24/24

- “US strikes targets in Iraq after US forces wounded -officials,” 1/23/24

 

Salem, Amr, "Suicide attack on PMF headquarters in Salah Al-Din thwarted," Iraqi News, 1/23/24

 

Shafaq News, "The Iraqi Resistance announces the bombing of an Israeli target by drone," 1/29/24

- "The Iraqi resistance announces the bombing of Haifa with a cruise missile," 1/7/24

- "The Iraqi Resistance announces the targeting of Ain al-Assad with a drone," 1/27/24

- "The Iraqi Resistance claims bombing an Israeli military target in the Golan," 1/21/24

- "The Iraqi Resistance says it bombed 4 American bases in Iraq and Syria and an Israeli naval facility," 1/28/24

- "The Islamic Resistance announces the targeting of Ain al-Assad base with drones," 1/7/24

- "Two drones target Ain al-Assad in western Iraq," 1/23/24

- "With missiles and drones … the factions bomb three American bases in Iraq and Syria (video)," 1/14/24

 

Xinhua, "3 armed drones shot down near U.S. military base in N. Iraq," 1/16/24