Iraq remains in Crisis, New Security Weekly Roundup

 Islamist militants led by the Islamic State (IS) continue to battle with the federal and Kurdish security forces in several parts of the central and northern region.

A total of 48 non-suicide bomb attacks left 53 people dead and 220 injured last week - an increase from recent weeks.

Three additional suicide bombings left seven people dead and 15 injured.

Small arms attacks left 14 people dead and 118 injured, including members of the security forces shot during clashes with militants.

Indirect fire incidents (rockets, mortars and military artillery shelling) left 46 people dead and 142 injured.

The bodies of at least 26 people were also recovered abandoned in various parts of the central region.

Last week's summary:

• Total number of violent incidents: 625 (slight rise from previous week)
• Total fatalities (not including militants): 146 (decrease from previous week)
• Total injured (not including militants): 495
• Average weekly number of violent incidents: 57 (2012) and 98 (2013)
• Average weekly fatalities: 60 (2012) and 140 (2013)

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Source: AKE GROUP.

Iraq weekly roundup 26-Nov.12

Levels of violence fell in Iraq last week. At least 20 people were killed and 53 injured in nationwide incidents – a low figure for the country.

Even more remarkable is the fact that the weekend saw the Shi'ah holy period of Ashura, which has previously seen severe bouts of terrorist violence aimed at Shi'ah civilians. There were some attacks, but the security forces appear to have limited the extent of the expected violence fairly substantially.

Throughout the week a total of 26 non-suicide bomb attacks left 12 people dead and 42 injured – a low figure. An additional suicide bombing in the north-west of Mosul injured five people.

Shooting attacks left seven people dead and four injured. Indirect fire attacks (rockets and mortars) left one person dead and two injured.

Attacks were concentrated in the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, as well as along a belt of settlements running from Rawa in Anbar province towards Kifl in Babil province, with notable clusters around Ramadi and Fallujah.

In Salah ad-Din province there was a spate of attacks in Tikrit on 20 November, while tensions between the federal and Kurdish security forces remain high around Tuz Khurmatu.

Baghdad was unusually quiet; there were no major incidents recorded in Kurdish Regional Government territory; there was only one attack recorded in the south.

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Source: AKE