Monday, January 11, 2016

Violence In Iraq, Dec 2015


December 2015 ended with the second lowest number of security incidents, while casualties stayed steady for the last quarter of the year. Anbar, Baghdad and Ninewa were the most violent. In Anbar the Ramadi operation was on going, in Baghdad IS was continuing with its terrorist campaign, and in Ninewa the insurgents opened a new winter offensive against the Peshmerga.

There were 553 incidents reported in the press in December 2015. That was the second lowest amount of the year with November’s 530 being the fewest. Baghdad had the most incidents by far with 240. Ninewa was second with 93, followed by 76 in Anbar, 65 in Salahaddin, 25 in Babil, 23 each in Diyala and Kirkuk, 5 in Basra, and 1 each in Karbala, Maysan, and Qadisiyah. There are always more attacks then what gets in the media.

Overall, violence across Iraq steadily declined during the year. There were an average of 27.3 attacks per day during the first quarter, down to 22.0 in the second, 19.5 in the third, and 18.1 by the fourth.

Avg. Attacks Per Day By Quarter In Iraq, 2015
1st Qtr 27.3 per day
2nd Qtr 22.0 per day
3rd Qtr 19.5 per day
4th Qtr 18.1 per day

During the month there were a total of 1,155 deaths reported and 1,252 wounded. The dead broke down to 6 Yazidi fighters, 20 volunteers at a Ninewa camp, 39 Sahwa, 47 Hashd al-Shaabi, 220 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 684 civilians. The injured were made up of 5 Sahwa, 12 Turkish soldiers, 30 volunteers, 50 Hashd, 52 Peshmerga, 138 ISF, and 965 civilians. These figures should be considered a minimum because the Iraqi government is suppressing losses and not all violence gets reported.

In Anbar there were 235 killed and 88 wounded. Almost all of those casualties, 212 dead and 61 injured, happened in and around Ramadi. The security forces successfully pushed their way into the center of the city by the end of the month resulting in some heavy losses for the ISF. In the aftermath 90 people were found executed within Ramadi and to the east. The Islamic State’s main response to the advances in Ramadi was launching 100 car bombs and 30 suicide bombers during December. 88 of the vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) were destroyed, while 12 hit their targets. 25 of the suicide bombers were also killed, and 5 got through.

Violence in Babil has remained at a relatively low level for the last year. There has been less then one attack per day in the province since March. During December, most of the attacks were improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 18, along with 4 shootings and 2 sticky bombs. All of these happened in the north in places like Latifiya, Mahmudiya, Yusifiya, where IS is based, and resulted in 29 fatalities, and 79 injured.

As the Islamic State has gone on the defensive since its summer offensive in 2014 it has concentrated upon terrorist attacks in the capital. The governorate regularly has the most attacks and casualties as a result. IS has concentrated on the southern section of Baghdad with 74 attacks there in December. It is active in many of the outer towns in that region such as Arab Jabour. The east had 64 incidents, but many of those were the work of criminals, vigilantes, and Hashd elements that carried out a beheading, three stabbings, four robberies, and all of the bodies dumped in the streets. IS also attacked the district with a suicide bomber and 19 IEDs. The north had 44 attacks. IS has bases in southern Salahaddin that it uses to launch attacks into that region of Baghdad. There were also 30 attacks in the west, and 24 in the center. Surprisingly, despite the emphasis upon hitting the capital, there was only one car bomb during the month, which was discovered and defused by the security forces. Before Baghdad was hit almost every week by car bombs. This might just be a break however, while IS reloads because it just ended a VBIED campaign in November.

Incidents In Baghdad Dec 2015
Center: 24 – 1 Car Bomb Dismantled, 1 Robbery,1 Kidnapping, 1 Grenade, 1 Shooting, 3 Sticky Bombs,
16 IEDs
East: 53 – 1 Suicide Bomber, 1 Beheading, 1 Kidnapping, 1 Robbery/Stabbing, 1 Robbery/Shooting, 2
Robberies, 3 Stabbings, 5 Sticky Bombs, 17 Shootings, 19 IEDs
Outer East: 11 – 1 Grenade, 2 Sticky Bombs, 8 IEDs
North: 32 – 1 Stabbing, 2 Robberies, 2 Kidnappings, 5 Shootings, 8 Sticky Bombs, 14 IEDs
Outer North: 12 – 4 Shootings, 10 IEDs
South: 48 – 1 Robbery, 2 Kidnappings, 2 Sticky Bombs, 4 Suicide Bombers Killed, 8 Shootings, 30 IEDs
Outer South: 26 – 1 Mortar, 4 Shootings, 24 IEDs
West: 20 – 1 Mortar, 1 Shooting, 2 Robberies, 3 Sticky Bombs, 4 Kidnappings, 9 IEDs
Outer West: 10 – 1 Mortar, 1 Bicycle Bomb, 1 Motorcycle Bomb, 1 Shooting, 6 IEDs
Unknown: 3 – 1 IED, 2 Kidnappings

Diyala remained rather quite in December. Like Babil, IS is using both governorates as bases to hit the surrounding areas like Baghdad. There was less than one incident per day during the month. There were two car bombs, but those are now rare occasions in the province. What IS has been doing off and on is firing mortars into towns in the center of the province.

There was a slight upsurge in activity in Kirkuk as IS launched a new winter offensive against the Kurds. On December 18 the militants attacked two towns in the Dibis district and one in Hawija. IS then focused upon Kurdish positions in Ninewa.

In Ninewa, IS was looking for a weak point in the Peshmerga defenses, but failed to find one. It started its offensive on December 12 attacking a new town every day with a mix of mortars, gunfire, suicide bombers, and car bombs. It also attacked the camp in the Bashiqa district that housed Turkish trainers after it got into the news when Baghdad demanded that Ankara remove its forces from there. By the end of the month 6 Yazidi fighters, 20 volunteers at the Bashiqa camp, and 121 Peshmerga were dead and 12 Turkish soldiers, 30 volunteers and 43 Peshmerga were wounded.

IS also kept up its steady pace of executions in the areas it controls in Ninewa. That cost the lives of 197 people. A mass grave was discovered with 120 bodies in it, most of which were ISF members with a few civilians as well.

Since the joint forces retook Baiji violence in Salahaddin has dropped off. IS is still active up and down the length of the province, and holds the Shirqat district in the north. There was heavy fighting outside of Samarra and in the Makhoul Mountains in the northeast where the ISF and Hashd are trying to clear out IS pockets. That meant attacks in the province were a mix of harassing operations like drive by shootings, 29, and IEDs, 17, along with a steady flow of suicide, 11, and car bombs, 14. That left 57 dead and 99 injured.

There were 143 car bombs during the month. 26 were successful and 117 were destroyed. While December’s total was comparable to November’s 164 VBIEDs, there was a decided decline in their frequency until Ramadi fell, and IS launched a slew of them in Anbar at the end of the month. All but three of the VBIEDs were used in military operations in Anbar, Ninewa and Salahaddin. Before car bombs were used in both attacks on the joint forces and civilians in terrorist attacks. That pointed to IS’s car bomb campaign ending in November.
 
Violence In Iraq By Week 2015
Date
Incidents
Dead
Wounded
Jan 1-7
226
540
525
Jan 8-14
187
776
514
Jan 15-21
197
438
528
Jan 22-28
207
573
898 + 150
Jan 29-31
94
329
567
JAN
911
2,656
3,032 + 150
Feb 1-7
168
572
689
Feb 8-14
183
462
572
Feb 15-21
177
697
383
Feb 22-28
202
614
722
FEB
730
2,345
2,366
Mar 1-7
196
408
595
Mar 8-14
164
419
655
Mar 15-21
178
1,312
505
Mar 22-28
201
310
406
Mar 29-31
81
212 + 4
218 + 150
MAR
820
2,665
2,529
Apr 1-7
153
276
422
Apr 8-14
165
864
525
Apr 15-21
190
880
714
Apr 22-28
187
564
479
Apr 29-30
56
169
182 + 299
APR
751
2,753
2,621
May 1-7
176
651
448
May 8-14
167
450
542
May 15-21
149
996
390
May 22-28
131
362 + 1,499
344
May 29-31
49
87
164 + 646
MAY
672
2,546 + 1,499
1,888 + 646
Jun 1-7
155
534
475
Jun 8-14
145
648 + 405
389
Jun 15-21
143
367
373
Jun 22-28
162
306
474
Jun 29-30
61
122 + 58
189 + 106
JUN
666
2,035 + 405
2,006
Jul 1-7
161
435
719
Jul 8-14
140
384
570
Jul 15-21
109
359
597 + 4,024
Jul 22-28
145
527
590
Jul 29-31
53
193 + 260
203 + 400
JUL
608
2,158
3,079 + 4,024
Aug 1-7
154
650 + 760
298
Aug 8-14
133
756
640
Aug 15-21
135
345
354
Aug 22-28
136
342
296
Aug 29-31
59
112
169
AUG
617
2,205 + 760
1,757
Sep 1-7
139
285
352
Sep 8-14
144
368
394
Sep 15-21
123
323
488
Sep 22-28
128
190
258
Sep 29-30
39
106 + 19
147 + 8
SEP
573
1,291 + 314
1,647 + 3,003
Oct 1-7
120
337
398
Oct 8-14
144
254
389
Oct 15-21
142
208
279
Oct 22-28
129
216
366
Oct 29-31
49
110
116 + 1
OCT
584
1,124
1,549
Nov 1-7
125
186
316
Nov 8-14
121
265
354
Nov 15-21
140
358
420
Nov 22-28
107
289
261 + 124 + 1,322
Nov 29-30
37
52 + 24
103 + 1
NOV
530
1,174
1,455 + 124 + 1,322
Dec 1-7
118
158
249
Dec 8-14
128
246
248
Dec 15-21
140
242
326 + 5,920
Dec 22-28
127
292
346
Dec 29-31
40
203 + 14
83
DEC
553
1,155
1,252 + 5,920

Security By Province Dec 2015
Province
Dec
Anbar
76 Incidents
235 Killed: 30 Hashd, 36 Sahwa, 45 ISF, 124 Civilians
88 Wounded: 19 Hashd, 24 Civilians, 45 ISF
20 Shootings
2 IEDs
5 Suicide Bombers
12 Suicide Car Bombs
1 Rockets
3 Mortars
25 Suicide Bombers Killed
64 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
24 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil
25 Incidents
29 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 ISF, 4 Hashd, 22 Civilians
79 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 8 Hash, 10 ISF, 59 Civilians
4 Shootings
18 IEDs
2 Sticky Bombs
Baghdad
240 Incidents
261 Killed: 6 Hashd, 19 ISF, 236 Civilians
809 Wounded: 5 Hashd, 55 ISF, 749 Civilians
43 Shootings
136 IEDs
26 Sticky Bombs
1 Bicycle Bomb
1 Motorcycle Bomb
1 Suicide Bomber
3 Mortars
2 Grenades
4 Suicide Bombers Killed
1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Basra
5 Incidents
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
2 Wounded: 2 Civilians
3 Shootings
2 IEDs
Diyala
23 Incidents
17 Killed: 2 ISF, 2 Hashd, 13 Civilians
32 Wounded: 6 Hashd, 7 ISF, 19 Civilians
5 Shootings
10 IEDs
2 Car Bombs
4 Mortars
Karbala
1 Incident
1 Shooting
5 Suicide Bombers Killed
Kirkuk
23 Incidents
36 Killed: 1 Hashd, 3 Peshmerga, 32 Civilians
15 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 3 Civilians, 9 Peshmerga
11 Shootings
1 Mortar
Maysan
1 Incident
1 Killed: 1 Civilian
1 Shooting
Ninewa
93 Incidents
518 Killed: 6 Yazidi Fighters, 20 Volunteers, 121 Peshmerga, 138 ISF
128 Wounded: 12 Turkish Soldiers, 30 Volunteers, 43 Peshmerga, 43 Civilians
40 Shootings
33 IEDs
6 Suicide Bombers
2 Suicide Car Bombs
10 Car Bombs
7 Mortars
3 Rockets
22 Suicide Bombers Killed
12 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
3 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin
65 Incidents
57 Killed: 1 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 14 ISF, 36 Civilians
99 Wounded: 3 Sahwa, 9 Hashd, 21 ISF, 66 Civilians
29 Shootings
17 IEDs
1 Suicide Bomber
3 Mortars
1 Rockets
10 Suicide Bombers Killed
5 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed
9 Car Bombs Destroyed

Car Bombs In Iraq, December 2015
Date
Location
Dead
Wounded
Dec 1



Dec 2
Baghdadi & Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed


Dec 3
Albu Aetha & Hamidiya, Anbar – 5 destroyed


Dec 4
110 Kilo, Albu Faraj & Jeraishi, Anbar – 6 destroyed


Dec 5
35 Kilo, Albu Faraj, Baghdadi, Ramadi, Anbar – 19 destroyed


Dec 6



Dec 7
Samarra Island, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed


Totals
0 – 36 Destroyed


Dec 8
Ajeel & Alas oil fields, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed


Dec 9
Albu Faraj & Warrar Bridge, Anbar – 4 destroyed
Shirqat, Salahaddin – 3 destroyed


Dec 10
Albu Diab, Albu Faraj, Albu Taiban, Anbar – 7 destroyed


Dec 11
Baghdadi & Kubaisa, Anbar – 2 destroyed


Dec 12
Nukhaib & Ramadi x3, Anbar
Aski, Ninewa
Albu Jassim & East Husaiba, Anbar – 3 destroyed
43
39
Dec 13
Kazak, Ninewa – 3 destroyed


Dec 14
Albu Faraj  x5 & Ramadi, Anbar
Central Baghdad, Baghdad – 1 destroyed
Sinjar, Ninewa – 2 destroyed
35
2
Totals
11 – 26 Destroyed
78
41
Dec 15
Tal al-Mushahid & Palestine Bridge, Anbar – 18 destroyed
2
6
Dec 16
Kaske x2 & Nawaran x9, Ninewa
Husaiba & Palestine Bridge, Anbar – 7 destroyed
Domuz Military Base & Baira, Ninewa – 4 destroyed
7
6
Dec 17
Hiyakil, Anbar
Hiyakil, Anbar – 3 destroyed
West of Samarra, Salahaddin – 4 destroyed
3
5
Dec 18



Dec 19



Dec 20
Baiji, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed


Dec 21



Totals
12 – 37 Destroyed
12
17
Dec 22
Albu Diab, Anbar
South of Ramadi, Anbar – 1 destroyed
31

Dec 23
Khalis x2, Diyala
Ramadi, Anbar – 4 destroyed
7
18
Dec 24
Jeraishi & Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed


Dec 25
160 Kilo, Anbar – 1 destroyed


Dec 26
South of Ramadi, Anbar – 1 destroyed


Dec 27
Ramadi, Anbar – 2 destroyed


Dec 28



Totals
3 – 11 Destroyed
38
18
Dec 29
Albu Aetha, Anbar – 1 destroyed
Domiz, Ninewa – 1 destroyed


Dec 30
Sinjar, Ninewa – 5 destroyed


Dec 31



DEC
26 – 117 Destroyed
128
76

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