Summary: Security incidents during this reporting period included two improvised explosive device (IED) explosions that killed one person and injured five more south and west of Mosul. There was also one attack with small arms fire in which another person was killed, and there were reports of militant activity and road closures in parts of west Mosul to which Iraqi security forces (ISF) responded without reports of casualties. This week the ISF found the bodies of two individuals, a civilian in Bashiqa and an officer in Sinjar, who were killed in unknown circumstance. The ISF also arrested 15 suspected terrorists in various parts of Mosul city and discovered militant hideouts and supplies south of the city.
Note: locations are approximate
Security Incidents
On January 25, a community based monitor said that a resident of Hamdaniya who works for SOS charity organization was kidnapped in unknown circumstance. News reports indicated that a Christian man from Hamdaniya was with three French men working for a humanitarian organization who went missing in Baghdad.
On January 27, a source with Ninewa police said that the ISF found the body of a man who was killed and left inside a house in the village of Telyara near Bashiqa, east of Mosul.
On January 27, the Ninewa police reopened roads in the Rajm Hadid neighborhood of west Mosul that were closed the night before amid reports of militant activities to which the ISF responded without reports of casualties.
On January 27, unidentified militants opened fire from small arms against a member of the tribal mobilization forces in the Athba village south of Mosul. The tribal fighter was killed immediately.
On January 28, an under-vehicle IED exploded wounding two civilians while driving their car in the Rifai neighborhood of west Mosul.
On January 28, our community based monitors said that Brigade 30 of the popular mobilization forces opened machine gun fire at a drone that circled over their camps in the Qalat area of Bartella, east of Mosul.
On January 28, the ISF arrested a suspected terrorist who was a member of the ISIS Sharia organization, known as “Abu Sidra” in the Tel al-Rumman area of west Mosul.
On January 29, an IED exploded against a civilian vehicle in the Hamad village near al-Hadhar, killing one man and injuring three children from the same family.
On January 29, Ninewa police found the body of a captain in the Ezdixan protection force in the village of Dukri near Sinjar, west of Mosul. The officer was found dead from bullet injuries, one day after he went missing.
On January 29, the ISF arrested and confiscated weapons from 13 armed men thought to be ISIS members who had reportedly infiltrated into various parts of east Mosul.
On January 30, a joint force of the army, police and popular mobilization forces conducted search operations in Baaj, Tel Abta and al-Hadhar, south of Mosul. The operations uncovered three ISIS hideouts containing mortar rounds and military supplies. The ISF destroyed the explosives on site.
Officially launched in June 2019, Ninewa-ISHM and Security Bulletins utilize information collected from community-based monitors; Iraq-based Arabic, Kurdish, and English news sources; data from aid agencies; and social media posts, verified and fact-checked by EPIC’s research team. This weekly bulletin is part of Safe Return, a project to support the safe and voluntary return of IDPs who have survived severe human rights abuses to their homes in Ninewa. Safe Return is made possible with the generous support of the American people through USAID in partnership with Heartland Alliance International.
