Iraq Weekly Roundup

There was a fall in the total number of violent incidents reported in Iraq last week but conditions remain bad nonetheless. At least 150 people were killed and 382 injured in nationwide incidents. In 2012, the average weekly fatality range was 20-80. A total of 70 non-suicide bomb attacks left 67 people dead and 234 injured last week. Six additional suicide bombings left 31 more people dead and 130 injured. Small arms attacks left 49 people dead and 18 injured. Violence was concentrated in the cities of Baghdad and Mosul. Incidents also occurred along a belt of Anbar province stretching from Anah to Abu Ghraib, and along a belt in Diyala province from Ba'qubah to Khanaqin.  Additional clusters of attacks were reported in Shirqat (Salah ad-Din province) and Qa'im (Anbar province), while the northern city of Kirkuk also saw several incidents, including a complex mass-casualty attack on a police building and shopping centre. The south of the country was relatively quiet although a bomb targeted the convoy of a security company in Basrah province. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) territory also saw a handful of rare incidents, all of which occurred in the city of Sulaymaniyah. Source: AKE

#Iraq weekly roundup. Last week is the worst week since 2007 !

 According to AKE figures last week was one of Iraq's most violent since 2007. At least 259 people were killed and 399 injured in nationwide incidents.

In 2012 the average weekly number of fatalities was 60. Last week's total number of deaths was over four times this.

At least 73 non-suicide bomb attacks left 98 people dead and 266 injured countrywide. Thirteen additional suicide bombings (a very high figure) left 53 people dead and 115 injured.

Small arms attacks left 55 people dead and 13 injured. Indirect fire attacks (rockets and mortars) left three people dead and five injured.

However, perhaps most concerning was the abduction and murder of several dozen people in Baghdad and the central region. Most of the victims were bound, blindfolded and tortured before being executed, usually by being shot in the head.

The abduction and murder of civilians on account of their community background was once common in Iraq but this latest spate has involved more killings than in any week since 2008.

The re-emerging trend marked the end of a particularly bloody November. According to AFP the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) recorded 659 deaths over the course of the month, while the Health, Interior and Defence Ministries of Iraq recorded nearly 950 deaths. AFP's own tally recorded 692 fatalities.

Most of last week's incidents took place in the capital, as well as the city of Mosul and throughout the provinces of Anbar, Babil, Salah ad-Din, Ta'mim and western Diyala. These have been the usual flashpoints in the country for the past few months.

There was a scattering of incidents in the south of the country.

While there were no incidents recorded in Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) territory last week, a double bombing was reported in Sulaymaniyah earlier on 2 December.

Source: AKE