Northern Iraq (North and North Central Regions – including the KRG)
There were 39 attacks in northern Iraq during this reporting period, versus 42 last week and 62 the week before. Detected incidents this week also included eighteen IEDs, twelve shooting incidents, seven under-vehicle IEDs, two indirect fire (rocket or mortar) attacks and a suicide car bombing. Compared to last week - when there were more incidents generally, three car bombings and one suicide vest attack - the northern provinces were relatively quiet. This is likely to represent an operational pause in advance of Ramadan, when insurgent operations will probably intensify.
Mosul city and Baqubah were the two most violent areas in northern Iraq, with Kirkuk also witnessing a slight week-on-week upturn in violence. On 13 July 2012, ten Moroccans were detained under Article 4 (Terrorism) in the Barid district of Mosul. Mosul has been a significant cog in the machinery for foreign fighter facilitation in Iraq. This latest incident highlights that this remains the case. Kidnaps in Mosul continued this week, with a security force operation freeing two child victims in the Zirai district on 14 July 2012. This year a prevalence of child kidnaps in Mosul has been evident, with a number of children being killed as a result. Kidnap is a lucrative source of funding for armed groups, and particularly so following a drop in foreign financing since the withdrawal of US Forces. Militant groups have increasingly turned more to extorting the local population.
Baquba suffered a suicide car bomb on 15 July 2012. The attack targeted the residence of a Shia religious official. Reporting on the incident was sporadic, but it is understood that the intended target was injured, along with eight other people, and two children were killed in the blast. The reported location of the attack was approximately three hundred metres from the Provincial Council building.
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