1.3.1 Security incidents

1.3.1 Security incidents

According to ACLED data, 5 084 security incidents (battles, explosions/remote violence, violence against civilians) were recorded between 1 August 2024 and 1 August 2025: 794 were coded as battles, 4 009 as explosions/remote violence, and 281 as violence against civilians.113

Figure 1: Evolution of security events coded ‘battles’, ‘explosions/remote violence’ and ‘violence against civilians’ in Iraq between 1 August 2024 and 1 August 2025, based on ACLED data.114

The highest number of security incidents was recorded in Dohuk (2 917), followed by Erbil (1 050) and Ninewa (265) governorates. The lowest security incidents figures were recorded in Najaf (13), Karbala (7) and Wassit (6) governorates.115

Figure 2: Security events coded ‘battles’, ‘explosions/remote violence’ and ‘violence against civilians’ in Iraq between 1 August 2024 and 1 August 2025 on governorate level, based on ACLED data.116

Explosions/remote violence, which includes explosive devices, artillery fire and air strikes, is the category with the highest number of individual incidents by far with 4 009 incidents recorded by ACLED between 1 August 2024 and 1 August 2025. The largest number of explosions/remote violence was registered in Dohuk (2 507), followed by Erbil (981) and Ninewa (246) governorates. Karbala, Najaf and Wassit were the governorates with the lowest rate of explosions/remote violence with no incidents recorded.117

Battles (armed clashes) is the category with the second most registered security incidents. During the reference period, there were 794 battles recorded by ACLED. Most battles were recorded in the governorates of Dohuk (404), Missan (65), and Erbil (57). The lowest number of battles were recorded in Najaf and Ninewa (9 each), Karbala (4), and Wassit (2).118

As for the category violence against civilians, ACLED recorded the highest number of incidents in Baghdad (74), Missan (50) and Thi-Qar (28) governorates. The lowest number of incidents were recorded in Najaf, Sulaymaniyah and Wassit (4 each) as well as Karbala and Babil governorates (3 each).119

Between 1 August 2024 and 15 May 2025, the blog Musings on Iraq120 documented 214 security incidents between 1 August 2024 and 21 July 2025, with 177 of the incidents attributed to pro-Iranian groups, happening almost exclusively between August and November 2024 and experiencing a new spike in July 2025, which was attributed to the attacks on oil fields in the Kurdistan Region.121 For the latter, no group has formally claimed responsibility, despite security experts likely attributing them to Iranian-backed militias122 (see section  1.2 Overview of recent security developments). The blog further logged 36 attacks attributed to ISIL, declining steadily since the second half of 2022.123

For the reference period, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) recorded a total of 234 security events, including 222 incidents of state-based violence, 5 incidents of non-state violence and 7 incidents of one-sided violence.124

Type of weapons and tactics used

According to the reports by the UN Secretary-General, the majority of civilian casualties between 1 May and 21 October 2024 were caused by explosive remnants of war (ERWs) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), followed by aerial attacks, small arms fire, and indirect fire125 and, in the period from 1 December 2024 to 31 March 2025 by ERWs, with further incidents resulting from aerial strikes, indirect fire, and small arms fire.126