Weekly Security Update

Northern Iraq (North and North Central Regions – including the KRG)

The Northern Region reported 35 incidents during the period, a slight decline on last weeks figure but still some way above the 2012 weekly average of 27.  The majority of incidents this week involved stand-off attacks on ISF and low-level communal violence against civilians.  In Mosul there were three shooting incidents targeting Iraqi Security Forces (ISF); four targeting other government employees and five targeting civilians.   There were also six explosive incidents targeting ISF and one each targeting a government employee and a civilian.  Outside Mosul City there were shooting incidents targeting ISF and civilians and three explosive incidents targeting ISF.  Of note, there were two incidents targeting ISF in the region of the Syrian border, with the kidnapping of a border police officer in Ba’aj and the killing of a solider in clashes with smugglers in the vicinity of Rabia.  Amongst the explosive attacks on ISF, there was a VBIED targeting the police directorate in Karama, east Mosul, with up to fifteen wounded.  This incident was part of the attack-series of 30 September. 

The North Central Region reported 53 incidents during the period, an increase on last week’s figure and considerably above the 2012 weekly average of 35. There were concentrations of activity in insurgent hot-spots, particularly Shirqat in the far north of Salah al-Din, Kirkuk City and the plain to the west of it, encompassing Hawija,Riyadh, and the Diyala River Valley.  The overall picture remains of a general instability in security across the North Central Region, with insurgent groups operating with increasingly flexibility.  On 27 September, an uprising of inmates occurred in Tikrit Prison, coordinated with a complex attack on the facility, during which prison staff were held hostage and a large number of inmates escaped.  This incident received widespread media attention. While the attack series of 30 September did affect a handful of locations in the North Central Region, the ferocity and distribution of incidents was less than previously seen; particularly in Kirkuk City.         

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) – No significant incident were reported during the period in the three provinces that comprise the KRG (Dahuk,Erbil and Sulaymaniyah).