The four attackers, some of whom wore military uniforms, held guns to the heads of security guards late on Thursday and planted four large explosives in a building housing routing and switching equipment, Asiacell chief executive Diar Ahmed said.

“One of [the devices] exploded and caused severe damage to the network. The other three were dismantled,” Ahmed said. “It’s a partial outage in (Nineveh) province but it’s the majority to be honest.”

The centre, located in a normally safe area in a Mosul free trade zone, just 60-70 metres from a police station, serves Nineveh province and parts of neighbouring Dahuk. Work crews hoped to restore service later on Friday.

Ahmed said he suspected the al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) was behind the attack. Mosul is considered an al Qaeda stronghold.

“The ISI has threatened our offices and our employees in Mosul many, many times because we work with the government,” he said.

There were no reported injuries.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Tactics
A total of 30 bomb attacks left 41 people dead and 136 injured last week. An additional suicide bombing in Za’faraniyah district in Baghdad left at least 32 people dead and 71 injured while over the last few days a second suicide bombing has hit Diyala province. The number of small arms attacks has been high over the past fortnight and last week the tactic left 27 people dead and eight injured. There was a relatively low number of indirect fire attacks (rockets and mortars), with one person injured by the tactic. There were no reported kidnappings.

Weekly Attacks in Iraq - the last 6 months

Geographic Distribution
Violence was concentrated in Baghdad, the central provinces, Kirkuk and Mosul. There was also a spike in violence in the towns of Tuz Khurmatu (Salah ad-Din province) and Ba’qubah (Diyala province). Conditions worsened in the capital, while there was a slight reduction in violence in the north of the country. The Kurdish region remained quiet, as did the south of the country, although a number of unknown blasts were reported in Basrah.

Sticky Bombs
Recent days have seen a rise in the number of sticky bombs reported in the country. Sticky bombs are also known as Under Vehicle Improvised Explosive Devices (UVIEDs). They are usually magnetic in nature and are affixed to a target vehicle before being detonated – usually by remote control. A rise in the tactic was also reported in spring 2011, as outlined in this Iraq Business News Article. UVIEDs are normally used to kill a specifically targeted individual, such as a ministry employee or senior member of the Iraqi security forces. Personnel should inspect their vehicles before and after every journey, even minor ones, if they are in unsecure parts of the country. Look out for any suspicious devices around the underside of the vehicle as you approach it, and be aware of your surroundings. Most of the devices are detonated by remote control by an operator who is situated within eyesight.

John Drake is a senior risk consultant with AKE, a British private security firm working in Iraq since 2003. You can access AKE’s intelligence website Global Intake here, and you can obtain a free trial of AKE’s Iraq intelligence reports here.

AKE has updated its security, travel and political risk guidance on the country on the website Global Intake. For further details or to purchase access to the report please visit the site here.

Since initial fielding more than six years ago, the C-RAM system is credited with saving hundreds of lives through its ability to provide early warning of incoming indirect fire. C-RAM is a capability that integrates existing field artillery and air defense sensors, a commercial off-the-shelf warning system and a U.S. Navy-developed interceptor to protect U.S. and coalition personnel from indirect fire threat. Working closely with the U.S. Army, Northrop Grumman helped to take the C-RAM capability from concept to reality in less than 18 months.

“C-RAM is exemplary for smart integration of existing technology to serve critical needs,” said Mike Twyman, vice president and general manager of the Defense Systems Division, Northrop Grumman Information Systems. “We will continue our collaboration with the Army to enhance this system that has provided timely warning of more than 2,000 rocket and mortar attacks against our FOBs.”

Under this contract, Northrop Grumman will provide systems engineering, production, deployment and logistics support for the C-RAM systems. The contract was awarded by the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Program management and technical direction will come from the Program Director, C-RAM, in the Army’s Program Executive Office, Missiles and Space.

(Source: Northrop Grumman)

The number of individuals accused in those cases was 5,682.

The statistics, made by the Legal Office/CoI, showed the number of the distribution of these referrals is as follows:

These numbers represent cases that were processed by CoI investigation offices, (not including the Kurdistan Region), and which were referred to the appropriate court of law.

(Source: Commission of Integrity)

Barry McCaffrey served in the United States Army for 32 years and retired as a four-­star General.

At retirement, he was the most highly decorated serving General, having been awarded three Purple Heart medals, two Distinguished Service Crosses, and two Silver Stars for valor.

Currently, General McCaffrey is President of his own consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia: www.mccaffreyassociates.com. He also serves as a national security and terrorism analyst for NBC News.

Please click here to download the presentation.

Weekly Fatalities in Iraq - figures fluctuated throughout 2011

Casualties
AKE also documented at least 2893 fatalities over the year. However, the true figure is almost certain to be much higher. AKE figures are collated on a ‘spot’ basis, i.e. they are taken within 24 hours of a violent incident and do not take into account those who have died later from their injuries. The monitoring agency Iraq Body Count recorded a rise in civilian casualties in 2011, with 4,059 documented fatalities over the course of the year.

Q4 Conditions
Between October and December Baghdad was the most violent part of the country. The capital saw an average of 2-3 attacks per day, accounting for 38 per cent of all the violence in the country over the period. The next most hazardous province was Ninawa where the city of Mosul saw an average of 1-2 attacks per day. Other violent areas included the volatile and socially-mixed province of Ta’mim (Kirkuk) as well as the central provinces of Anbar, Babil, Diyala and Salah ad-Din.

Frequency of Incidents Oct-Dec 2011

Greener Pastures
The Kurdish provinces were very quiet, although they saw a small number of incidents, including cross border military operations by Iran and Turkey and a rise in localised social tensions in certain areas. The south of Iraq also saw very little violence. The quietest provinces in the whole of the country were Muthanna and Najaf which saw no major incidents of violence at all in the last quarter of the year. Even the oil-rich and previously troubled  provinces of Basrah and Maysan were far quieter than their counterparts in the centre and north of the country.

The Energy Sector
Such improvement in the southern region bodes well for the numerous companies looking to do business in the area in 2012. However, with ongoing violence, including a significant bombing in central Basrah the day before an oil and gas conference last year, security will likely remain a major consideration over the coming months for the industry.

Planning for 2012
AKE maintains a real-time security, political and travel risk report on Iraq, which readers can purchase here.  It contains risk assessment material, projections on how the security and political risk environment is likely to evolve over the coming year, travel guidelines and advice, as well as an archived database of analysis on the country stretching back to 2003. You can also obtain a free trial of our emailed intelligence by filling in your details here.

John Drake is a senior risk consultant with AKE, an international risk mitigation firm working in Iraq since 2003. You can follow him on twitter here, and you can view the company website here.

North
The cities of Kirkuk and Mosul remain very hazardous, with almost daily attacks in both. The police and military remain the most common target of militant attacks in the non-Kurdish governed north of the country although civilians are also regularly being singled out because of their community backgrounds. Members of the Shabak community were hit by a bombing against an IDP camp in Bartala, near Mosul last week, for example.

Weekly Attacks in Iraq - the last 6 months

Centre
Militant and terrorist activity was concentrated in the centre of the country – particularly Diyala province around Ba’qubah. Baghdad also saw several attacks although the capital is currently quieter than normal. Indirect fire attacks (rockets and mortars) in the city left no casualties and only limited damage last week. Nonetheless, one of the attacks targeted the Turkish embassy, signalling a warning for nationals of the country that they are as much at risk of being singled out for attacks as other foreigners. For some time, Turkish nationals have been able to ‘slip under the radar’ in Iraq, blending in and travelling low profile. Nonetheless, Turkish nationals were amongst those abducted in the country last year and with worsening relations between Baghdad and Ankara Turkish organisations should perhaps consider reviewing their security measures in place at present. Low-profile measures will probably suit the majority of Turkish firms and nationals for now. Blending in should still be regarded as the best means of mitigating risk. Nonetheless, at least some protection should be regarded as better than nothing.

South
No major incidents were reported in the south of the country last week although unknown blasts were reported in Basrah on 25 January. Under-reporting remains a concern in the region and while it is certainly far quieter than the centre and north of Iraq it should not be regarded as ‘safe’.

John Drake is a senior risk consultant with AKE, a British private security firm working in Iraq since 2003. You can access AKE’s intelligence website Global Intake here, and you can obtain a free trial of AKE’s Iraq intelligence reports here.