Northern Iraq (North and North Central Regions – including the KRG)
The Northern Region reported 29 incidents during this reporting period, an increase of nine on the previous period. Mosul once again dominated reporting for the period, however there were clusters of incidents in and in Hamaal-Alil, involving small arms fire (SAF), improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and one reported vehicle-bourn IED (VBIED). Within Mosul city targeted attacks against Iraq Security Forces (ISF) were the most evident, with six IEDs, one under-vehicle IED (UVIED) and two hand grenades. Other reported incidents in Ninawa province this week include eight SAF attacks and one indirect-fire (IDF) attack. Ninawa province recorded a total of six incidents likely connected with the 23 July multi-city attacks. However, Mosul itself only recorded one VBIED, with the three others all occurring west of the city in Ba’aj, Sinjar and Tal Afar. The targeting was almost exclusively directed against ISF. The spread of violent incidents in the west of the province may indicate the strengthening of terrorist networks in the border areas as Syrian government control of the border area further deteriorates. Qayyara in the south of Ninawa province also featured in the 23 July attacks.
Activity levels in the North Central Region saw a dramatic increase this week, with a total of 66 recorded incidents, more than double the total for last week. This exceptionally high figure, which is the highest since the week ending 20 August 2011, is largely due to the 23 July attacks, which saw at least 31 incidents across the provinces of Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Diyala, comprising of at least 22 VBIEDs and a successful insurgent attack on an Iraq Army (IA) base which killed up to fourteen soldiers. The 23 July attacks were particularly concentrated in Baquba, the upper Diyala RiverValley, Kirkuk, and the ethnically mixed area in the south and east of Salah al-Din. This distribution of attacks may reflect the strategy recently outlined by the Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) Emir, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of regaining former Sunni Arab insurgent strongholds. The 23 July attacks aside, the North Central region witnessed a general increase in reported activity during the reporting period.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) – No significant incidents were reported in the three provinces that comprise the KRG (Dahuk,Erbil and Sulaymaniyah). This week has however seen an apparent escalation in tension between ISF and Kurdish security forces (Peshmerga) in the northwest of Ninawa province. This was trigered when IA units were moved into the disputed areas between ‘Federal Iraq’ and the KRG to bolster border security with Syria, following the recent deterioration of security in eastern Syria.
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