Weekly Security Update 19 - 26 September 2013

Another worrying development was the news this week that there had been further clashes between Al Qaeda affiliated groups and the Syrian Kurdish militias, which has once again directly affected the Syrian Kurd population and lends further weight to the possibility that the Kurdish nations are looking to carve itself and enclave in northern Syria.  The worry for many is whether the KRG in Iraq are prepared to enter the fray, which will only add to and already confusing and deadly mix.  One must not forget the direct threat that the KRG made against Syrian rebel groups earlier in the month in the wake of significant pressure on the Syrian Kurd population from Sunni rebel attacks.

Domestic Iraq was violent this week with scores killed by suicide and car bombs.  In Tikrit two bombs concealed in air conditioning units inside a Sunni mosque south of the Iraqi city of Samarra exploded during Friday prayers, killing at least 15 people adding further weight to reports that the Shia militias were once again becoming more active.

Over the weekend Baghdad became the focal point for ISI attacks, which put the Shia community at breaking point.  Saturday saw at least 65 people killed in a triple bombing that targeted a tent filled with mourners in Baghdad's Shi'ite Muslim stronghold of Sadr City.   A car bomb went off near the tent where a funeral was being held, whilst a suicide bomber driving a car then targeted the tent, and a third explosion followed as police, ambulances and fire-fighters were gathering at the scene.  In a desperate and confused situation a Reuters reporter said distraught survivors attacked policemen and fire fighters who tried to move them away from the scene.

In a separate incident, at least eight people were also killed when a car bomb exploded in a busy street in the predominantly Shi'ite Ur district of northern Baghdad.

As the weekend progressed the Sunni community once again came under attack as a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a tent filled with mourners in a predominantly Sunni district of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 16 people.  Further afield a further 35 people were wounded in the attack in Doura coming a day after the triple bombing at the funeral in Baghdad's Shi'ite stronghold of Sadr City, which killed 85

Monday through to Wednesday saw the violence flare north out of Baghdad.  At least 33 people were killed in attacks across Iraq that included a coordinated assault against local government and police buildings in the north of the country.

In the northern town of Hawija, two suicide car bombs were detonated outside a local council building and a police station before militants fired mortar rounds and exchanged fire with the army, killing three soldiers, military sources reported.

At least three assailants were also shot dead during the attacks, which military officials said looked like the work of al Qaeda. The militants withdrew after reinforcements arrived.

Also in the north a bomb planted inside a wooden cart on a commercial street in the northern city of Mosul exploded on Wednesday evening, killing seven people, and a roadside bomb south of Tikrit killed five more as violence spread along the Tigris River Valley in what ended as one of the more vicious weeks of the month.