ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
manufacturing plants and three arsenals were destroyed by
Iraqi airstrikes on December 9. According to Iraqi officials,
government forces controlled 44 percent of Nineveh on December
24. The second phase of the battle was launched
on December 29, by closing in from three directions into the
eastern parts of Mosul. On December 31, an army officer from
the southeast front claimed that their advances were slowed
down because of the difficulty in differentiating between
civilians and militants. Throughout the year, at least 1,701
civilians were killed and 977 injured in the governorate.
Al-Anbar, Iraq's geographically largest governorate predominantly
populated by Sunnis, had mainly been controlled by IS
in 2015. The government undertook an offensive from July
2015 to June 2016 to recapture the governorate. On January
3, the Iraqi army held 80 percent of the provincial capital
Ramadi, completely expelling IS from the city on February
4. This was the first major combat success by the Iraqi army
against IS since the fall of Mosul in 2014. On February 15,
the government started its siege on the city of Fallujah. IS
cracked down on a three-day long revolt by Sunni tribesmen
in the city on February 18. From February 19 to April 14, the
government successfully completed its offensive on Hit town
and the eponymous district. On May 23, army and PMF captured
important positions around Fallujah. One week later,
they entered the city and faced strong resistance from IS.
On June 5, security forces discovered a mass grave of 400
soldiers, which had been executed on an unknown date in
Saqlawiyah. Fallujah was declared fully recaptured from IS on
June 26. Airstrikes by Iraqi Air Force and the US-led coalition
on convoys of fleeing IS militants killed at least 360 militants
and destroyed approx. 150 vehicles on June 29 and 30. In
the aftermath of the offensive, IS kept 20 percent of the governorate
under its control. The conflict caused at least 883
civilian fatalities and 1,232 injured in al-Anbar, but due to a
lack of valid data of the highly violent months the numbers
were supposedly much higher.
Throughout the year, IS fighters carried out daily bomb attacks
in the capital Baghdad, Baghdad Governorate, concentrating
on predominantly Shiite neighborhoods such as Sadr City or
Karrada. The attacks resulted in approx. 3,132 civilian fatalities
and 8,829 injured. On May 17, a series of bombings hit
the capital. Three suicide bombers, car bombs, two IEDs, and
a following shoot out with the police killed 101 and injured
194. On July 3, during late night shopping for Ramadan, a
suicide truck bomb inside of a refrigerator truck detonated
in the middle of a shopping area in Karrada, killing 342 and
injuring 246. This attack was the deadliest single attack in
Iraqi history. The same day, a roadside bomb in Sha'ab killed
at least five and injured 16.
In January 2015, IS had been expelled from the predominantly
Shiite Diyala Governorate, bordering Iran. However,
the group continued to carry out several suicide bombings in
Diyala. On January 11, a twin suicide bomb attack at a cafe in
Muqdadiyah killed 23 and injured 44. Throughout the year,
at least 233 civilians were killed and 297 injured.
In Salahuddin Governorate, including the city of Tikrit and
the country's biggest oil refinery in the town of Baiji, security
forces and IS repeatedly clashed. On July 8, IS attacked a
Shiite shrine in Balad with RPGs and three suicide bombers,
killing 36. In the course of the year, at least 264 civilians were
killed and 305 injured.
In Kirkuk Governorate, IS and Peshmerga controlled different
areas, with the latter holding the city of Kirkuk and most of the
surrounding oil fields. On October 21, IS militants attacked
a power station and police stations in Kirkuk city, killing 18
security personnel and workers. During the recapture of the
buildings, security forces killed 20 IS militants. Subsequently,
they undertook a three-day long manhunt for the remaining
fugitives. Throughout the year, at least 317 civilians were
killed and 362 injured.
In Babil Governorate, south of Baghdad, IS detonated a truck
bomb at a petrol station on November 24, killing at least 125
and injuring 95, among them Shiite pilgrims from Iran. In Karbala
Governorate, a IS suicide car bomber killed seven and
injured 20 in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. IS later stated
that the attack was targeted at the PMF. In Iraq's southern
Muthanna Governorate, IS conducted a twin car bomb attack
in Samawah city on May 1, killing 41 and injuring 75. (ska, lru)
AFGHANISTAN
As in the previous year, the branch of IS in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, the so-called Islamic State in Khorasan Province
(ISKP), mainly operated in Nangarhar Province, where the
group had established a strong foothold.
ISKP militants frequently clashed with members of the Afghan
National Defence Security Forces (ANDSF). Afghan as well as
international forces targeted ISKP militants in air and ground
operations. For instance, in a major joint operation in January,
which lasted ten days, 144 ISKP fighters were killed
and 58 wounded in Nangarhar. In late February, Afghan security
forces declared that 70 percent of Achin district, Nangarhar,
was no longer under ISKP control. On June 4, ANDSF
launched an offensive targeting ISKP fighters in Kot district,
Nangarhar, lasting several days, killing at least 27 militants
and wounding 18. On June 23, ISKP launched a major offensive
in Kot, attacking several security posts. The following
day, ISKP members abducted at least 30 civilians in Kot. In
subsequent clashes, at least twelve security personnel were
killed and eight wounded, while more than 131 militants were
killed in airstrikes and firefights.
In mid-January, the US declared ISKP a global terrorist organization
and increased airstrikes against the group. In November
alone, more than 100 ISKP militants were killed in US
airstrikes. Additionally, NATO forces continued to back up
ANSF and conducted drone strikes. For instance, on May 25,
at least a dozen ISKP fighters were killed during a series of
NATO drone strikes in Nangarhar.
ISKP fighters continued to clash with the Taliban, mainly
in various Nangarhar districts contested by both groups.
For instance, 18 militants were killed and eleven wounded
when fights erupted in Achin on May 18. On October 21,
26 militants and two civilians were killed and another 17
wounded in clashes between ISKP and Taliban fighters following
ANDSF airstrikes in Pachiragam district, Nangarhar.
During the clashes, ISKP militants allegedly torched several
buildings in the surrounding villages.
Besides Nangarhar, ISKP presence was also reported in several
other provinces. Alleged members of the group were
killed in airstrikes in the provinces of Wardak, Kunar, and
Paktia throughout the year. On October 25, ISKP members
reportedly kidnapped and killed 38 civilians in Hagcharan
district, Ghor Province. One ISKP militant was killed in the
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