May 2013 Iraq attacks

Last updated

May 2013 Iraq attacks
Part of Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal)
Locationacross Iraq (see maps below )
Date15–21 May 2013
Target Shia and Sunni civilians, Iraqi security forces
Attack type
Car bombings, suicide bombings, roadside bombings, mortar attacks, shootings
Weapons
Deaths449 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Injured732 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

From 15 to 21 May 2013, a series of deadly bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, with a few incidents occurring in towns in the south and far west as well. The attacks killed at least 449 people and left 732 others injured in one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence in years. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Background

From a peak of 3,000 deaths per month in 2006–07, violence in Iraq decreased steadily for several years before beginning to rise again in 2012. [8] In December 2012, Sunnis began to protest perceived mistreatment by the Shia-led government. The protests had been largely peaceful, but insurgents, emboldened by the war in neighboring Syria, stepped up attacks in the initial months of 2013. [9] The number of attacks rose sharply after the Iraqi army raided a protest camp in Hawija on 23 April 2013. [10] Overall, 712 people were killed in April according to UN figures, making it the nation's deadliest month in five years. [9] [10]

Post-Hawija targets have included both Sunni and Shia mosques, as well as security forces and tribal leaders. According to Mahmoud al-Sumaidaie, the deputy head of Iraq's Sunni Endowment, at least 29 Sunni mosques were attacked between mid-April and mid-May, resulting in the deaths of at least 65 worshippers. In contrast, only two Shiite places of worship were attacked during the same period, with a single person being killed. During the whole of 2012, a total of 10 Sunni mosques were attacked, signifying a recent increase in the sectarian nature of the insurgency. [11]

Attacks

On 15 May, a total of nine car bombs struck the capital Baghdad, killing 23 people and injuring 108 others. All of the attacks targeted Shia civilians, with bombs exploding at a bus stop in Sadr City, as well as locations in Kadhimiya and New Baghdad. [1] A pair of bombs detonated near government offices in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing 10 people and injuring 13 others, while 2 policemen were injured in a roadside bombing outside the city. A roadside blast in Mosul killed 2 policemen and injured another. A suicide bomber struck a checkpoint in Tarmiyah, killing 2 policemen and injuring 8 others. [1] Mortar shelling killed a soldier in Akashat, near the border with Syria, while a bombing in Hammam al-Alil killed 2 soldiers and wounded 3 others. Blasts in Baqubah and Muqdadiyah killed a civilian and injured 5 others. Unidentified gunmen killed 2 Sahwa militiamen in Mehraijiya. [1]

Iraq physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Baghdad
Red pog.svg
Fallujah
Red pog.svg
Kirkuk
Red pog.svg
Mosul
Red pog.svg
Muqdadiyah
Red pog.svg
Baqubah
Red pog.svg
Tarmiyah
Red pog.svg
Akashat
Red pog.svg
Basra
Locations of some of the attacks on 15–19 May
Iraq physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Baghdad
Red pog.svg
Mosul
Red pog.svg
Baiji
Red pog.svg
Basra
Red pog.svg
Rawa
Red pog.svg
Balad
Red pog.svg
Hillah
Red pog.svg
Samarra
Red pog.svg
Rutbah
Locations of some of the attacks on 20 May

Attacks continued at a similar pace on 16 May, with 40 people killed and 107 injured across the country. In Kirkuk, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque where the memorial service for the victims of the previous day's bombings was taking place, killing 12 people and injuring 36 others. A separate bombing in the city killed 2 children. [2] In the capital Baghdad, a car bombing killed 9 people and injured 28 others in Sadr City, while gunmen shot dead the brother of an Iraqiya party member and injured 2 of his bodyguards. Other attacks in the Kamaliya, Bayaa and Chkok neighborhoods killed 6 people and wounded 24 others, all of them civilians. [2] Four bombings struck Mosul, killing 2 soldiers and injuring 13 others, including 5 members of the security forces. Bombings in Tarmiyah and Shirqat killed 4 police officers and injured 4 others. In addition, gunmen shot dead an employee of the civil defense agency in Fallujah. [2]

Violence rose sharply on 17 May, as most of the incidents appeared to target Sunnis in apparent retaliation for previous attacks against Shiites. Twin bombings struck Baqubah, with the first bomb exploding as worshippers were leaving the town's main Sunni mosque after attending morning prayers. As people gathered to help the wounded, a second explosion occurred, inflicting even more damage than the first. At least 43 people were killed and 80 others were injured in the attacks, which were the second deadliest to ever hit the city after a July 2004 bombing at a police recruit center that killed 68 people. [10] [3] "I was about 30 meters from the first explosion. When the first exploded, I ran to help them, and the second one went off. I saw bodies flying and I had shrapnel in my neck," reported an eyewitness. [9] The attack continued a trend of targeting Sunni mosques; about thirty were attacked between mid-April and mid-May. Baqubah was an important center for the insurgency during the height of the Iraq War and was declared to be the center of operations for the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006, before US troops moved in and forced the group to relocate. The city was the site of major attacks in 2004, 2008 and 2010. [10] [12]

Later in the day, a roadside bomb killed 8 people and injured 25 others in Madain, a town 12 miles south of Baghdad, near Salman Pak. [10] [9] The bombing targeted a funeral procession for a Sunni cleric who was killed the previous day. [9] [3] In the capital Baghdad, twin car bombs in Ghazaliya and Baladiyat killed 8 people and wounded 33 others, before a powerful bomb rocked a shopping center in the upscale Sunni neighborhood of Amariyah during evening rush hour. The blast killed 21 people and injured 32 others, and it was followed by another explosion in the southern Dora district that left 4 people dead and 22 wounded. [3] In Fallujah, 40 miles west of the capital, an explosion at a cafe killed 2 civilians and injured 9 others. [3] [10] Gunmen shot dead a candidate for the Nineveh provincial council in Qayara, as well as an inspection department employee and his cousin in Kirkuk. In addition, a woman's body was found with gunshot wounds near Mosul. [3]

Large bombings were absent on 18 May, as 40 people were killed and 25 injured nationwide, mostly in smaller attacks. These included a car bombing in Latifiya that left 5 dead and 10 injured, and an explosion at a stadium in Ramadi that killed 4 and wounded 12 others. [4] North of Ramadi itself, a woman and her three children were killed during an Iraqi Army raid. Two local tribesmen were killed and another injured in clashes that took place after the raid, while unidentified gunmen kidnapped 10 Sunni policemen nearby. [4] Two blasts in Mosul killed 3 soldiers and wounded 5 others, while gunmen killed a policeman. Five Sahwa militiamen were killed and another wounded after attacks against checkpoints in Garma and Khalis. [4] A rocket attack killed 3 soldiers and injured 4 others in Hammam al-Alil. Suicide bombings in Tal al-Ruman and Tal Abta wounded 4 soldiers and a police officer. Gunmen killed three people in Jubail and injured a senior military officer in Qaim. [4] An explosion at a mosque in Madain injured four worshipers, while a Sunni cleric was assassinated in the southern city of Basra. [4]

Small arms attacks continued on 19 May, with the primary targets being members of the Iraqi Police. The bodies of six of the policemen kidnapped near Ramadi the previous day were discovered on a highway in Al Anbar Governorate, while another officer was shot dead by gunmen nearby. Armed insurgents attacked checkpoints in Haditha and Rawa, killing 17 policemen and injuring 2 others. [5] A councilman's home in Rawa was also targeted; seven attackers died during the assault. [5] Three civilians were shot dead in Mosul, while a roadside blast killed another and injured two children. In the capital Baghdad gunmen attacked a cafe in Dora, killing 2 and injuring 5, while a blast in the east of the city killed one person and injured 5 others. [5] Twin explosions in Fallujah injured two officers and two civilians. One man was killed and another injured in Riyadh, as they were apparently working on a motorcycle bomb. A married couple was killed in Khalis, while a gunshot-riddled body was discovered in a canal in Iskandariya. [5] Bombings in Abu Ghraib and Shirqat injured five people. A farmer and his son were kidnapped near Samarra. [5]

Violence reached a new peak on 20 May, with at least 133 killed and 283 injured across the country. [6] Ten seemingly coordinated bombings rocked the capital Baghdad, killing 48 and injuring 154 others. The blasts took place in the Shoala, Shab, Ilam, Kamaliya, Zaafaraniya, Kadhimiya, al-Shurta and Saba Bour districts and targeted marketplaces and crowded areas along shopping streets. Two separate explosions were reported from Basra as well, killing 13 and injuring 50 others in rare attack in the southern port. [6] Security forces attempted to rescue kidnapped policemen in Anbar Province, sparking a firefight that left 12 officers dead and 4 others injured. A bomb exploded near a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims in Balad, killing 14 people and wounding 13 others. A blast near a recruitment center in Samarra killed 13 Sahwa members and injured 9 others. In Hillah, a car bomb was detonated at a Shi'ite mosque, killing 12 and wounding at least 26 others. [6] Attacks in Rawa and Zgerdan left 12 policemen dead and 3 others wounded. Three separate blasts in Mosul injured 7 people, including 2 Iraqi soldiers. Mortar fire struck a home in Tal Afar, killing a civilian and injuring another. A similar attack killed another person and injured 4 others in Baqubah. [6] A suicide bomber attempted to assassinate a Sahwa leader in Baiji, injuring him and two others and killing two of his bodyguards. A car bombing in Rutbah killed one and injured 4, while a sticky bomb in Tikrit killed a married couple and injured their child. A roadside explosion injured three people in Jalawla. [6]

Attacks continued across central and northern Iraq on 21 May, with 60 people killed and 132 others injured across the country. [7] In Abu Ghraib, a car bomb near a Sunni mosque killed 11 civilians and injured 21 others, while an ambush left 4 Sahwa members and 2 others wounded. [7] A bombing killed 6 and injured 18 others in Baghdad's Dora district, while double blasts in Tuz Khurmatu killed 5 and injured 46. A bomb also ripped through a livestock market in Kirkuk, killing 6 people and wounding 26 others. [7] Gunmen shot dead 5 people in Mosul, including a soldier and 2 police officers, and injured 4 others. Three civilians were killed and three others injured after a blast in Baqubah, while two roadside bombs in Kanaan killed three others. A Sunni couple was killed by gunmen in Khalis, while two policemen were injured after a clash near Jalawla. At least five other deaths were reported from Diyala Governorate. Gunmen injured two policemen in Karmah, while a blast in Ramadi killed one of the organizers of the Anbar protests. [7]

The spate of attacks heightened fears that violence would continue to rise due to retaliation back and forth between Shias and Sunnis. [10] No group claimed initial responsibility, though such widespread and coordinated attacks have mostly been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq in the past. [9]

Reactions

Domestic

Talal al-Zobaie, a Sunni member of the Iraqi Parliament, called on his colleagues to unite and face the enemies of Iraq together. "The government should admit that it has failed to secure the country and the people, and all security commanders should be replaced by efficient people who can really confront terrorism. Sectarianism that has bred armies of widows and orphans in the past is now trying to make a comeback in this country, and everybody should be aware of this", he said in a statement released to the press. Jawad al-Hasnawi, a lawmaker with the Sadrist Movement, loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said he believed the pattern of attacks was not coincidental, and terrorist groups were trying to reignite sectarian tensions in Iraq. "But the government bears full responsibility for this security chaos and it has to take quick and serious measures in order to stop the bloodshed, instead of just blaming other political blocs. Today and yesterday, the Iraqi people paid for the failure of government security forces. Everybody should expect darker days full of even deadlier attacks", Al-Hasnawi added. [13]

International

See also

Related Research Articles

The 2008 Nineveh campaign was a series of offensives and counter-attacks between insurgent and Coalition forces for control of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq in early-to-mid-2008. Some fighting also occurred in the neighboring Kirkuk Governorate.

2006 in Iraq marked the onset of a sectarian war in Iraq and remains the deadliest year of the Iraq War since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2007</span>

This list details terrorist incidents occurring in Iraq in 2007. In 2007, the US sent 20,000 additional troops into combat as part of a troop surge. There were 442 bombings in 2007, the second-most in a single year during the Iraq War. Major events included a January 16 attack on Mustansiriyah University, which killed 70 and injured 180, and February 3 bombings at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad, which killed 135 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008</span>

This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008. In 2008, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On February 1, a pair of bombs detonated at a market in Baghdad, killing 99 people and injuring 200. Two other particularly deadly attacks occurred on March 6, and June 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2010</span>

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.

A series of bombings and shootings occurred in Iraq on 16 August 2012, in one of the most violent attacks since post-US withdrawal insurgency has begun. At least 128 people were killed and more than 400 wounded in coordinated attacks across Iraq, making them the deadliest attacks in the country since October 2009, when 155 were killed in twin bombings near the Justice Ministry in Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012–2013 Iraqi protests</span> Sectarian protests and violence in Iraq during the post-U.S. insurgency

The 2012–2013 Iraqi protests started on 21 December 2012 following a raid on the home of Sunni Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and the arrest of 10 of his bodyguards. Beginning in Fallujah, the protests afterwards spread throughout Sunni Arab parts of Iraq. The protests centered on the issue of the alleged sectarianism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Pro-Maliki protests also took place throughout central and southern Iraq, where there is a Shia Arab majority. In April 2013, sectarian violence escalated after the 2013 Hawija clashes. The protests continued throughout 2013, and in December Maliki used security forces to forcefully close down the main protest camp in Ramadi, leaving at least ten gunmen and three policemen dead in the process.

The 19 March 2013 Iraq attacks were a series of coordinated bombings and shootings across the capital Baghdad and several major cities in the north and central parts of the country. At least 98 people were killed and more than 240 others injured in the wave of violence, which took place on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War.

A wave of bombings and shootings across Iraq killed at least 75 people and injured more than 356 others on 15 April. The attacks came just days before the provincial elections which was held on 20 April.

The 2013 Hawija clashes relate to a series of violent attacks within Iraq, as part of the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests and Iraqi insurgency post-U.S. withdrawal. On 23 April, an army raid against a protest encampment in the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, led to dozens of civilian deaths and the involvement of several insurgent groups in organized action against the government, leading to fears of a return to a wide-scale Sunni–Shia conflict within the country. By 27 April, more than 300 people were reported killed and scores more injured in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011.

On 27 May 2013, a series of coordinated attacks occurred in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, killing 71 people and injuring more than 200 others.

On 10 June 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, killing at least 94 people and injuring 289 others.

On 16 June 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 170 others.

During the first two weeks of July 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 389 people and injuring more than 800 others.

On 21 September 2013, a series of car and suicide bombings struck the central and northern regions of Iraq, with the largest attack targeting a funeral in Sadr City, a predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Baghdad. The attacks left at least 115 dead and more than 200 others injured.

On 4 December 2013, a series of coordinated attacks took place in central and northern Iraq, with the biggest assault taking place at a government building and an adjacent shopping mall in Kirkuk. More than 30 people were killed in the attacks that day, while at least 106 were injured.

The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.

On 15 October 2016, four attacks in and around Baghdad, Iraq, resulted in the deaths of at least 60 victims and at least seven attackers, while injuring at least 80 more people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are believed to be behind the suicide bombing and two mass shootings.

This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017 in its final year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Iraq Horror: 42 Killed, 141 Wounded". Antiwar.com. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bombings Continue in Baghdad, Kirkuk; 40 Killed". Antiwar.com. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Retaliation Against Sunnis Leave 90 Dead, 201 Wounded Across Iraq". Antiwar.com. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Forty Killed Across Iraq; 13 Kidnapped in Anbar Province". Antiwar.com. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Iraqi Police Targeted As Attacks Claim 44 Lives". Antiwar.com. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Monday Mayhem: 133 Killed, 283 Wounded in Iraq". Antiwar.com. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sixty Killed, 132 Wounded in Ongoing Iraq Carnage". Antiwar.com. 21 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  8. Kareen Raheem (15 April 2013). "Bombs kill more than 30 across Iraq before local poll". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Two blasts at Iraqi Sunni mosque kill 43". Reuters. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Deadliest day in months as bombs strike Sunni areas in Iraq, killing 76". Fox News. AP. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  11. Attacks against mosques and husseiniyahs stoke Iraq fears of sectarian strife Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine . Middle East Online.
  12. "Scores killed in Iraq bomb attack". BBC. 28 July 2004. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  13. "Kimbrel 8th pitcher in MLB history to earn 400 saves, Phillies beat Braves 6-4". nujournal.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  14. "GCC condemns recent surge of violence in Iraq". Iraqi News. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  15. "KUNA : OIC condemns "terrorist" attacks in Iraq - Politics - 18/05/2013". www.kuna.net.kw. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  16. Iraq: UN envoy urges political leaders to help end bloodshed following latest bombings (UN News Center) Archived 29 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine . Un.org.
  17. Daily Press Briefing – 16 May 2013 Archived 19 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine . US State Department (16 May 2013).