Weekly Security Update

The latter part of the week saw a public inquiry open in London into allegations that up to 20 Iraqis were murdered after a gun battle with British troops in 2004. The inquiry will also examine claims that detainees captured at the same time were mistreated and comes on the back of a court appeal made by over 100 Iraqi civilians in November 2011 who petitioned for a new public inquiry into allegations of systematic torture by British soldiers serving in Iraq.

NORTHERN REGION

There were at least two Turkish air attacks against positions of the PKK in Dohuk this week, following the bombing of 12 hideouts on 20 February and the subsequent bombing of PKK positions in the Qandil Mountains last week.  Four militants were reported killed. These attacks were likely intended to maintain pressure on the PKK as speculation continues to circulate regarding the legitimacy of the much vaunted PKK ceasefire reported last week.

Activity in Nineveh was steady this week with a increase in attacks despite the increased security presence and activity in Mosul.  The focus of the majority of high impact attacks was the ISF with smaller scale SAF attacks and assassinations aimed at higher profile figures within the civilian population. 26 Feb saw soldiers detain a Sunni cell commander in the northeastern district of Hayy al-Qadisiyahal-Thaniyah, believed to specialise in VBIEDs and close-quarter assassinations. This however did not prevent the simultaneous detonation of two VBIEDs in Hayy al-Zera'i, where 2 soldiers lost their lives and 8 others, including 5 civilians, were wounded. Furthermore, on the 27 Feb the day ended with the fourth suicide VBIED attack in the city in one week where a vehicle rammed an army checkpoint killing at least 6 soldiers and wounding another 8. In the far south of the province, movement restrictions were imposed in al-Qayyarah and al-Shorah, as part of a province wide operation by the ISF to search interdict and detain those responsible for the suicide VBIED detonations in the provincial capital.