Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Security In Iraq, Apr 22-28, 2016


Violence jumped in Iraq the fourth week of April 2016. The Islamic State picked up its terrorist operations and executions during the week leading to the increase. There was also the usual fighting in areas where the government was carrying out security operations. The week’s spike may mean that in fact, IS is carrying out a spring offensive.

There were 160 incidents during the fourth week of April. That compared to 124 the third week, 141 the second, and 144 the first. Attacks often go up and down throughout each month, and April 22-28 was one of those high points.

Baghdad had the most incidents with 72 followed by 24 in Ninewa, 22 in Anbar, 16 in Diyala, 14 in Salahaddin, 9 in Kirkuk, 2 in Babil, and 1 in Karbala.

There were 413 deaths and 524 wounded during the week. That was the highest total casualties, 937, since the last week of February when there were 1,061 reported in the press.

The dead were made up of 5 Sahwa, 29 Peshmerga, 30 Hashd, 42 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 307 civilians. 2 Sahwa, 14 Peshmerga, 42 Hashd, 56 ISF, and 410 civilians were also wounded.

Ninewa had the highest number of deaths with 204. There were another 113 in Baghdad, 45 in Salahaddin, 33 in Anbar, and 9 in Diyala and Kirkuk each.

There was still major fighting going on in Anbar. In the middle of April the town of Hit in western Anbar was freed. Since then the Iraqi forces have tried to clear out the surrounding towns and moved into the Hit-Haditha valley. A new Garma operation was announced the second week of April, but was going through the same areas like Subhait and Albu Jasim that were fought over in February and March. The effort to take the Garma district has gone on for two years now. The government’s forces got to the center of the town, but were never able to take it from the Islamic State, and as time passed, they got caught churning through the outside areas again and again. The Hashd led effort outside Fallujah led to the clearing of Albu Khanfj and Albu Abdul. Finally, at the start of March a massive sweep was made from Samarra in central Salahaddin to the Thar Thar Lake in northern Anbar. The Iraqi forces claimed this as a huge victory, but during the fourth week of April, they went right back into Thar Thar. This is a huge rural area, which the government has no possibility of holding for any length of time. All this fighting in Anbar took a toll on the leadership of the ISF. The chief of staff of the 7th Division, the commander of the 27th Brigade from that division were both killed, and the 7th Brigade commander was wounded. On another front an estimated 200 people died and were injured by IEDs in Ramadi after political and religious leaders encouraged them to return to the city before removing the bombs had seriously begun. Overall, the government is expanding its control over the major areas in Anbar. The problem continues to be holding onto the smaller towns, which continue to switch hands in many places.

Violence in Baghdad shot back up from April 22-28. During the third week of April the number of incidents in Baghdad saw a large drop to just 59. That was due to demonstrations in the capital demanding government reforms. Every time they occur the Islamic State has reduced its attacks. In the fourth week, incidents went back up to 72 with very high levels of violence on days when there were no protests. As usual the south was the hardest hit with 2 car bombs, 1 sticky bomb, 5 shootings, and 13 IEDs for a total of 26 incidents. After that there were 14 in the north, 13 in the west, 12 in the east, and 5 in the center. The four car bombings from April 22-28 were the most in the province since the first week of October 2015 when there were also four. Those bombings pointed to another escalation in terrorist activity by the Islamic State in Baghdad, which has been going on for months now as it losses on the battlefield.

In Diyala there was a new wave of attacks on the capital of Baquba. That included a suicide bomber attacking a market, a car bomb being discovered and dismantled before it could go off, and two mortar attacks.

Ninewa saw clashes and attacks upon the ISF and Peshmerga, and a new string of large scale executions by the Islamic State. The Makhmour operation got going again with two towns taken at the end of the week. IS counterattacked four times in the district. The militants also fired rockets on Peshmerga positions twice. In Mosul, Qayara and Makhmour IS executed 141 people and blew up two churches. Finally a coalition air strike was blamed for killing 36 civilians in Mosul.  

Tensions in Tuz Kharmato got out of control again in ethnosectarian violence between Arab Shiite Hashd units, Shiite Turkmen, Peshmerga, and Kurdish irregulars. This was a replay of the heavy fighting that occurred in the town in November. In total, the press had 43 dead and 65 wounded. The town is explosive because of all the agendas at work. There are several different Hashd groups in the area, all competing with each other. Attacks and harassing Kurds is one outgrowth of this rivalry. Local Turkmen and Kurds feel threatened by each other and the armed forces in Tuz, and regularly carry out small scale violence against each other, and readily join in when heavy fighting breaks out. That all adds up to an explosive situation, which will continue to go off in the foreseeable future as long as armed groups instead of the government are in charge of the area.

In a further sign that the Islamic State was moved back into the Baiji district in Salahaddin, the Hashd started a new operation in Siniya at the very end of the month, and a suicide car bomb was destroyed there as well. The Hashd led forces moved to the northeast after it freed Baiji and this has allowed the militants to re-infiltrate.

Finally, there were four successful car bombs in Iraq during the week, all in Baghdad. They cost the lives of 23 people and wounded another 79. The Iraqi forces claimed to have destroyed another 28 with one each in Diyala and Salahaddin, 7 in Ninewa, and 19 in Anbar.

Violence In Iraq 2015-16
Date
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
JAN
911
2,656
3,032 + 150
FEB
730
2,345
2,366
MAR
820
2,665
2,529
APR
751
2,753
2,621
MAY
674
2,565 + 1,499
1,952 + 646
JUN
708
2,153 + 405
2,174
JUL
688
2,716
3,198 + 4,024
AUG
684
2,440 + 760
1,777
SEP
649
1,731
1,668 + 3,003
OCT
589
1,144
1,555
NOV
530
1,174
1,455 + 124 + 1,322
DEC
553
1,155
1,252 + 5,920
Jan 1-7
150
808
421
Jan 8-14
140
436
417
Jan 15-21
135
275
227
Jan 22-28
132
392
322
Jan 29-31
41
81
334
JAN
598
2,052
1,721
Feb 1-7
146
575
313
Feb 8-14
119
146
323
Feb 15-21
130
225
239
Feb 22-29
153
371
690
FEB
549
1,281
1,566
Mar 1-7
183
321
478
Mar 8-14
168
408
415
Mar 15-21
130
349
409
Mar 22-28
135
213
420
Mar 29-31
49
172
121
MAR
665
1,463
1,843
Apr 1-7
144
239
444
Apr 8-14
141
271
391
Apr 15-21
124
436
242
Apr 22-28
160
413
524


Security By Province Apr 22-28, 2016
Province
Incidents
Anbar
22 Incidents
33 Killed: 11 ISF, 22 Civilians
110 Wounded: 9 ISF, 101 Civilians
4 Shootings
1 IED+
1 Suicide Bomber
5 Mortars
1 Rockets
9 Suicide Bombers Killed
12 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
7 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil
2 Incidents
5 Wounded: 5 Civilians
1 Shooting
2 IEDs
Baghdad
72 Incidents
113 Killed: 3 Hashd, 5 Sahwa, 15 ISF, 90 Civilians
315 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 3 Hashd, 36 ISF, 274 Civilians
18 Shootings
40 IEDs
4 Sticky Bombs
1 Suicide Bomber
3 Suicide Car Bombs
1 Car Bomb
1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Diyala
16 Incidents
9 Killed: 1 ISF, 8 Civilians
16 Wounded: 2 ISF, 14 Civilians
3 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Suicide Bomber
4 Mortars
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Karbala
1 Incident
1 Rockets
Kirkuk
9 Incidents
9 Killed: 9 Civilians
5 Wounded: 2 ISF, 3 Civilians
4 Shootings
2 IEDs
1 Mortar
1 Suicide Bomber Arrested
Ninewa
24 Incidents
204 Killed: 9 ISF, 20 Peshmerga, 175 Civilians
8 Wounded: 8 Peshmerga
9 Shootings
28 IEDs
2 Rockets
8 Suicide Bombers Killed
7 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin
14 Incidents
45 Killed: 3 Civilians, 6 ISF, 9 Peshmerga, 27 Hashd
65 Wounded: 6 Peshmerga, 7 ISF, 39 Hashd, 13 Civilians
8 Shootings
3 Mortars
1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq Apr, 2016
Date
Car Bombs
Dead
Wounded
Apr 1
Hit, Anbar
Apr 2
Hit, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Apr 3
Apr 4
Baghdadi x2, Anbar
Meshada & Taji, Baghdad
Basra, Basra
Baghdadi, Rashad, Shihabi, Subhait, Anbar – 21 destroyed
Abu Ghraib, Baghdad – 2 destroyed
Nasir, Ninewa – 6 destroyed
Siniya, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
16
35
Apr 5
New Baghdad, Baghdad
Baghdadi & Subhait, Anbar – 9 destroyed
Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 1 destroyed Makhmou, Nasir, Ninewa – 13 destroyed
3
14
Apr 6
Kubaisa, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Nasir, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Apr 7
160 Kilo, Garma, Hit, Anbar – 7 destroyed
Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 3 Destroyed
Hardan, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
Shirqat-Baiji Road, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Totals
7 – 81 Destroyed
19
49
Apr 8
Hit, Anbar – 10 destroyed
Makhmour, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Apr 9
Albu Bali, Anbar
Hit & Subhait, Anbar – 6 destroyed
12
2
Apr 10
Bashir, Kirkuk – 3 destroyed
Nasir, Ninewa – 1 destroyed
Baiji, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed
Apr 11
Apr 12
Hit, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Nasir, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
Apr 13
Makhmour & Nasir, Ninewa – 3 destroyed
Apr 14
Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Totals
1 – 36 Destroyed
12
2
Apr 15
Apr 16
Haj Ali, Ninewa – 4 destroyed
Apr 17
Khasfa, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Apr 18
Bashir & Tel Ahmed, Kirkuk – 5 destroyed
Apr 19
Baghdadi, Anbar – 3 destroyed
Apr 20
Apr 21
Saqlawiya, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Bashir, Kirkuk – 1 destroyed
Siniya, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed
Totals
0 – 19 Destroyed
-
-
Apr 22
Apr 23
Arab Jabour & Rashidiya, Baghdad
Siniya, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
10
36
Apr 24
Apr 25
New Baghdad & Shakha, Bahgdad
Baghdadi, Anbar – 3 destroyed
13
43
Apr 26
Apr 27
Albu Tapah, Garma, Hit Valley, Thar Thar – 10 destroyed
Apr 28
Boutaya & Dolab, Anbar – 6 destroyed
Baquba, Diyala – 1 destroyed
Mahana, Ninewa – 7 destroyed
Totals
4 – 28 Destroyed
23
79

SOURCES


Adel, Loaa, "Commander of army's commandos regiment wounded in confrontations west of Ramadi," Iraqi News, 4/23/16
- "International coalition foils suicide attack on Baghdadi's eastern entrance," Iraqi News, 4/25/16

eKurd, "iraqi Kurdistan News in brief - April 27, 2016, 4/27/16

Al Maalomah, "17 martyrs and wounded from the security forces north of Baghdad from a suicide bomber blowing up," 4/23/16
- "The death of one civilian and wounding three others in a suicide bombing east Baquba," 4/26/16
- "The destruction of three Daash car bombs east of Fallujah," 4/27/16
- "The martyrdom and wounding more than 200 people by booby-trapped houses in Ramadi," 4/29/16
- "Security forces clear three areas in Fallujah, killing 20 Daash members," 4/24/16
- "Two suicide bombers killed by aerial bombardment in Thar Thar," 4/27/16

Al Mada, "Daash bombed in al-Baghdadi complex by Internatoinal Alliance targeting rocket launchers," 4/27/16
- "Death toll in suicide bombing north Baghdad up to 35 dead and wounded," 4/23/16

Mamoun, Abdelhak, "6 Iraqi army members killed, wounded in car bomb explosion south of Baghdad," Iraqi News, 4/25/16
- "150 ISIS fighters killed in cleansing battles of al-Karma District," Iraqi News, 4/23/16
- "ISIS military official al-Karma killed in cleansing battles in eastern Fallujah," Iraqi News, 4/6/16
- "ISIS security official of Karma District killed in eastern Fallujah," Iraqi News, 4/10/16
- "Jazeera Operations forces kill 21 ISIS members west of Ramadi, 203 IEDs dismantled," Iraqi News, 4/28/16
- "Security forces foil suicide attack in Karma District, 7 ISIS members killed," Iraqi News, 4/28/16
- "Security forces fully liberate Doulab area, dozens of ISIS members killed," Iraqi News, 4/26/16
- "Security forces liberate Albu Naim area in Heet, dozens of ISIS members killed," Iraqi News, 4/23/16

NINA, "30 Terrorists Killed, A Village South of Mosul Controlled By Daash Besieged," 4/27/16
- "Defense Ministry announces the return of more than /41/ thousand families to Haditha District," 4/23/16
- "Federal Police: A Military Operation Starts To Liberate Tharthar Area," 4/22/16
- "Four families killed in bombing by the international coalition east of Mosul," 4/22/16
- "The popular crowd confirms the liberation of more than 5000 square kilometers of the basin in the Thar Thar operations," 3/6/16
- "Security Forces Foil An Attack For Daash South Of Mosul," 4/28/16

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Iraq: Car Bombing in Baghdad Kills at Least 12 Civilians," Associated Press, 4/25/16

Sarhan, Amre, "Army brigadier wounded by ISIS shelling in al-Doulab area west of Heet," Iraqi News, 4/25/16
- "Iraqi joint forces kill 18 ISIS fighters in batles in al-Karma east of Fallujah," Iraqi News, 3/19/16

Sotaliraq, "Car Bomb dismantled near Baquba government building," 4/28/16
- "Killing Chief of Staff of 7th Division commander in explosion west Baghdad," 4/23/16
- "Killing and wounding of 11 soldiers in a second car bomb attack in Baghdad," 4/23/16

Al-Sumaria, "Baghdad Operations announced the death of one soldier and wounding four others blown up in Husseiniya," 4/23/16
- "Start process of freeing the regions in valley in Anbar," 4/23/16

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