MESOP SUMMARY : Security In Iraq Apr 8-14, 2016 (BY MUSINGS ON IRAQ – JOEL WING)

18 Apr 2016 – Violence remained high in Iraq during the second week of April 2016. That was due to two causes. First, the Iraqi forces continued their march through Anbar, with two lesser operations in Kirkuk and Ninewa. At the same time, the Islamic State appears to be launching a mini-spring offensive. It is nowhere near as large as its previous ones, but there are more attacks than usual.

There were 141 incidents from April 8-14, 2016 in Iraq. That was just the same as the previous week when there were 144. Baghdad was the most violent province as usual with 64 incidents, followed by 19 in Ninewa, 17 in Kirkuk, 14 in Anbar, 12 in Salahaddin, 9 in Diyala, 3 in Babil, 2 in Basra, and 1 in Dhi Qar.

Those led to 271 dead and 391 wounded. There were 1 Nujafi volunteers, 2 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 22 Hashd, 79 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 165 civilians who died, and 2 Sahwa, 11 Peshmerga, 20 Volunteers, 32 ISF, 95 Hashd, and 231 civilians who were injured. Ninewa was the deadliest governorate with 91 fatalities. There were also 79 in Baghdad, 50 in Anbar, 33 in Kirkuk, 9 in Diyala, 7 in Salahaddin, and 1 each in Babil and Basra.

The Iraqi forces finally took Hit in western Anbar. At the start of the week 85%of the area had been cleared. By the end of the week it was taken. Freeing the town helps secure the road heading westward from Ramadi to Ain Assad base and Haditha.

The question then arises of where the Iraqi forces will head next. There appears to be no consensus as there is no unity of command in Anbar. The Hashd and ISF are still acting on their own initiatives. The Hashd started a new sweep through Subhait, the seventh since July, and announced a new operation against Garma, which they still have not been able to take after trying for two years. The approaches to southern Fallujahwere also said to be secured, but those operations have never proven successful since the city was surrounded at the start of 2014. At the same time troops were being sent to Rutba, which is in the west heading towards the Syrian border. It’s likely that all of these operations will continue simultaneously as the cooperation between the different forces has not improved.

The Islamic State responded with 9 attacks in Anbar. The largest occurred in Albu Bali, Amiriya Fallujah, Hit and Subhait with infantry attacks and car bombings. A suicide car bomb got through the defenses in Albu Baliand killed 12 soldiers and wounded 2 more.

Finally, an air strike on Fallujah was blamed for killing 10 civilians and wounding 25 more. That could have been American or Iraqi.

Baghdad remained the focal point of the Islamic State. There were 64 incidents there that killed 79 and wounded 213. The south as usual had the most insurgent violence with 24 attacks including 1 grenade, 1 sticky bomb, 1 mortar, 5 shootings, and 16 IEDs. A suicide bomber was arrested in the center, and there was 1 major robbery, 4 kidnappings, and 7 bodies dumped.

Violence in Baghdad, Apr 8-14, 2016

Center: 5 – 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested, 1 Kidnapping, 3 IEDs

East: 8 – 1 Shooting/Robbery, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs, 3 Sticky Bombs

Outer East: 2 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 IED

North: 6 – 1 Kidnapping, 1 Mortar, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs

Outer North: 8 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 6 IEDs

South: 10 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 3 Shootings, 6 IEDs

Outer South: 14 – 1 Grenade, 1 Mortar, 2 Shootings, 10 IEDs

West: 7 – 1 Shootings, 2 Sticky Bombs, 4 IEDs

Outer West: 2 – 1 Mortar, 1 IED

Unknown: 3 – 1 Newspaper raided, 2 Kidnappings

In Basra there continued to be political violence. There were attacks on a customs house, a South Oil Company officer was shotand killed in his house, and a sound bomb went off on an employee of the Deputy governor.

The previous week there was a suicide bombing in Dhi Qar. The second week of April another suicide bomber was arrestedin Nasiriyah before he could carry out an attack. That showed IS is reaching out to new targets during its offensive.

Violence has picked back up in Kirkuk. There were 17 incidents during the week. IS attacked Kurdish positions five times. There was also a heavy firefight with the Hashd led forces during the Bashiroperation that killed 19 police and Hashd and wounded 90. The second phase of the Bashir sweep was announced on April 9, but then it was called off due to bad weather. For a few weeks there was only one attack per week in the province, but now things have returned to normal in part in response to the Hashd offensive.

The ISF Makhmour campaign in Ninewa went so badly that it was postponed on April 5. The two Iraqi units carrying out the operation were novices, and quickly bogged down due to bad weather and heavy resistance by the IS. The militants launched a series of car bomb and suicide attacks to drive back the ISF, but they were turned back.

There was also an attack upon the Kurdish positions in Gwar, and a mortar attack on the Zilcancamp where volunteers for ex-Governor Nujafi are being trained by Turkish troops that killed 1 and wounded 20.

IS executed 35 people in Mosul. A mass grave was also discovered with the bodies of 40 ISF members in it who had been executed by the Islamic State.

There were 12 incidents in Salahaddin. The number wasn’t important, but the locations were. There were attacks outside of Tikrit, and in the Baiji district showing that IS had moved back into those areas. It’s gotten to the point that there are clashes and bombings in those areas a couple times a week.

There was only one successful car bombing during the week, which occurred in Anbar. The Iraqi forces claimed they destroyed 17 more in Anbar, 13 in Ninewa, and 3 each in Kirkuk and Salahaddin. Those figures are unreliable as the ISF and Hashd regularly exaggerate how many they are able to blow up and defeat.

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

Security By Province Apr 8-14, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	14 Incidents 50 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 16 Civilians, 33 ISF 45 Wounded: 7 ISF, 38 Civilians 5 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 1 Suicide Car Bomb 1 Mortar 7 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed 16 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	3 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Wounded: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting 1 IED
Baghdad	64 Incidents 79 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 5 ISF, 71 Civilians 213 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 24 ISF, 183 Civilians 12 Shootings 35 IEDs 8 Sticky Bombs 3 Mortars 1 Grenade 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested
Basra	2 Incidents 1 Killed: 1 Civilian 1 Shooting 1 IED 1 Sound Bomb
Dhi Qar	1 Incident 1 Suicide Bomber Arrested
Diyala	9 Incidents 9 Killed: 9 Civilians 11 Wounded: 2 Hashd, 9 Civilians 3 Gunfire 5 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber Killed
Kirkuk	17 Incidents 33 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Peshmerga, 12 Civilians, 19 Hashd 99 Wounded: 1 ISF, 9 Peshmerga, 89 Hashd 7 Shootings 3 IEDs 1 Suicide Bomber 2 Rockets 2 Mortars 6 Suicide Bombers Killed 3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
Ninewa	19 Incidents 91 Killed: 1 Volunteer, 1 Peshmerga, 40 ISF, 49 Civilians 22 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 20 Volunteers 5 Shootings 17 IEDs 2 Mortars 13 Suicide Bombers Killed 8 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 3 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	12 Incidents 7 Killed: 1 Hashd, 6 Civilians 8 Shooting 1 IED 13 Suicide Bombers Killed 2 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed 1 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

SOURCES

AFP, “Iraq says town of Heet retaken from IS after weeks of fighting,” 4/14/16

Adel, Loaa, “Source: Unidentified men detonate local-made IED near customs office in Basra,” Iraqi News, 4/10/16

Alsumaria, “Killed the procurement official at the South oil Company by unidentified gunmen in Basra,” 4/12/16

Buratha News, “Anbar Operaions announces the destruction of a car bomb and Daash boats in Hit,” 4/12/16

eKurd, “iraqi Kurdistan News in brief – April 15, 2016,” 4/15/16

Al Forat, “The arrival of fresh troops from the popular crowd to Rutba in preparation to free it,” 4/11/16

– “Car bomb in Makhoul Mountains,” 4/14/16

– “Commander in Nienveh operations: Euphrates death of 7 Daash suicide bombers in Makhmour,” 4/8/16

– “Destroyed 10 car bombs in Hit,” 4/8/16

Fox News Lation, “58 Jihadists die in attacks, skirmishes in Iraq,” 4/9/16

Al Maalomah, “Destroyed a car bomb in Ninewa,” 4/13/16

– “Nineveh Command destroyed two car bombs,” 4/13/16

Al Mada, “Hit Council announces liberation of 85% of Hit and confirms 30 Daash gunmen killed,” 4/8/16

– “Killing and injuring 134 members of the Popular Crowd and Daash during the liberation battles of Bashir south of Kirkuk,” 4/10/16

– “Security officer and seven cohorts killed in Garma by Daash east of Fallujah,” 4/9/16

– “Suicide bomber arrested in Dhi Qar who was planning an attack in central Nasiriyah,” 4/14/16

Mamoun, Abdelhak, “ISIS security official of Karma District killed in eastern Fallujah,” Iraqi News, 4/10/16

– “Security forces to liberate and cleanse al-Karma District in 72 hours,” Iraqi News, 4/11/16

New Sabah, “Security file,” 4/11/16

NINA, “-7 Suicide Bombers Killed South of Mosul,” 4/13/16

– “Anti-terrorism forces contine freeing all regions of Heet,” 4/9/16

– “Daash Bomb Zilcan Camp, North Of Mosul,” 4/12/16

-“Found a mass grave containing the remains of 40 of the local security forces south of Mosul,” 4/9/16

– “Iraqi Army Repels IS Attack Near Makhmour,” 4/10/16

– “Leader of Rapid Intervention Brigade completed first encirclement of Fallujah Enemy incurred losses in lives and equipment,” 4/14/16

– “The start of the second phase of liberation of Bashir village southern city of Kirkuk,” 4/9/16

NRT, “Iraqi Army Repels IS Attack Near Makhmour,” 4/10/16

Rudaw, “Iraqi army delay al-Nasr offensive,” 4/5/16

Shafaq News, “Security commander repulsed two Daash suicide attacks north Baiji,” 4/10/16

Xinhua, “23 IS militants killed in clashes, airstrikes in Iraq,” 4/10/16