Northern Iraq (North and North Central Regions – including the KRG)
The Northern Region reported 37 incidents this week, which is someway above the 2012 weekly average of 23. Violence in Ninawa Province, where all reported incidents occurred this week, has oscillated considerably in the last few months; however the general trend that is emerging is of deteriorating overall levels of security. Mosulremains a vital support zone for Sunni Arab insurgents, particularly Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which seeks to control the community in which it resides. The higher incident figures seen recently in part reflect an intensification of the security dynamics, with the majority of reporting continuing to reflect low level communal violence and stand-off attacks on Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), with some targeted attacks on other Government of Iraq (GoI) employees. This week in Mosul there were thirteen reported attacks on ISF checkpoints and patrols, three indirect fire (IDF) attacks and ten attacks on civilians.
The North Central Region reported 42 incidents during the period, which is on par with last week’s figure and slightly above the 2012 weekly average of 35. Reporting from the North Central Region is highly variable, with wide weekly variations in the same areas and relative difference between localities. The most active areas this week were Shirqat, in the far north of Salah al-Din, and the Diyala River Valley. Numerous incidents were also reported along the length of the Tigris River Valley south of Tikrit. Kirkuk was unusually quiet, with only seven reported incidents in total. The general picture for the region this week, despite these variations, is of a continuation in overall levels of insurgent activity. One failed and one successful suicide-vest attack took place in Jalawla and a complex attack targeted a police station in Hibhib.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) – No significant incident were reported during the period in the three provinces that comprise the KRG (Dahuk,Erbil and Sulaymaniyah).
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