Central Iraq (Baghdad and Anbar)
There were a total of 33 incidents reported this week in Baghdad Province; an increase on last weeks figure of 29 and just above the weekly average of 30. This week’s increase can be largely attributed to the two-wave coordinated attack series on 27 & 29 November, with the Baghdad Region experiencing five VBIEDs. As has been the case throughout November, the majority of reported incidents involving explosive devices occurred in the periphery neighbourhoods of the city, or in the outlying areas of the province. On 27 November, a VBIED in Taji and a sequential IED attack in Intisar occurred to the north of Baghdad City. That evening, three VBIEDs detonated outside Shia mosques in Shia neighbourhoods in the north of the capital, Shula, Hurriya and Rabi. On 29 November, a VBIED detonated outside a restaurant in the mainly Shia area of Basmaya to the south east of the capital. The attacks were almost certainly conducted by Sunni insurgents, the sectarian nature of the attacks was clearly intended to invoke a reaction from the Shia community; a recurrent tactic by Sunni insurgents.
Anbar reported a total of ten incidents during the period, a marginal increase on last week’s figure of nine, but still below the 2012 weekly average of 11. The focus in Anbar switched to the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah this week, following a period of high insurgent activity in the rural areas to the east and south of Fallujah. An IED detonation outside the residence of a Federal Intelligence Officer in Rawa, was the only significant incident from the border areas. On 27 November, a VBIED detonated in central Ramadi and on 29 November an SVBIED targeted an ISF checkpoint in Fallujah. These attacks occurred following a relatively quiet two months for the two cities, which have seen a gradual decline in the number and ferocity of attacks. An IED in Karma may have been an insurgent response to the high number of ISF operations in the town during the last reporting period. An attack against an army patrol in Zuba (south east of Fallujah), killed one soldier and wounded two others.
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