1.4.1 Anbar

Table of contents

1.4.1 Anbar

Anbar

 

Map 2. Anbar governorate, © UNOCHA and MapAction.162

For a general description of the governorate, please refer to section 2.1 of the EUAA COI Report Iraq – Security Situation (May 2024). For 2022, the Iraqi Central Statistical Organization (CSO) estimated the governorate’s population at 1 963 346.163

As of the end of 2024, several PMF brigades were operating in Anbar along the border with Syria, among them the 17th Brigade164 and the 13th Brigade (Liwa Al-Tafuf) which reportedly had close ties with Kata’ib Hezbollah.165 Additionally, Iran-backed Iraqi militias that had withdrawn from Syria before the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, relocated to the Iraqi border towns of Al-Qaim, Hasiba Al-Gharbiya and Al-Rummanah.166 In April 2025, it was reported that Iran-backed PMF brigades stationed in Al-Qaim near the Syrian border would be replaced by 72nd PMF Brigade operating under the Defence Ministry and loyal to Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.167 At the start of 2025, the Anbar police command was reportedly set to take over the security responsibilities in the governorate, including border areas and checkpoints manned by armed factions.168 However, in a joint article released in April 2025, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) stated that they had not observed redeployment of Iranian-backed armed groups away from the border area.169 A June 2025 article published by US-funded Al-Hurra channel, described Al-Qaim district on the border with Syria as a ‘hub for Kataib Hezbollah, Saraya al-Khorasani, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Liwa al-Tafuf’.170

During the reference period, the Iraqi army171, the PMF172 and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS)173 carried out anti-ISIL operations within the governorate.

ISIL reportedly operated in sleeper cells in rural areas of the governorate, capable of carrying out hit-and-run operations.174 The group carried out sporadic attacks in remote desert regions of Anbar governorate,175 burning the trucks of shepherds it accused of cooperating with security forces176 and killing a shepherd in Al-Rutba district.177 In August 2024, a joint operation carried out by Iraqi security and international coalition forces, which targeted safe houses and weapons manufacturing bases in Al-Rutba, resulted in 14 ISIL leaders being killed.178 In February and March 2025, several airstrikes launched against ISIL reportedly led to further ISIL operatives being killed.179

Several IED explosions were reported during the reference period, targeting the vehicles of a tribal leader180, a local official181 and a PMF commander.182 Some IED remnants also led to the death of civilians, such as in December 2024, when a woman was killed by a mine in Haditha district183 and in May 2025, when the explosion of an IED remnant in the desert between Anbar and Ninewa governorates reportedly killed a 10-year-old boy herding animals.184

Security incidents (number and type of security incidents)

During the reference period (1 August 2024 – 1 August 2025), there were 43 security incidents recorded by ACLED in Anbar governorate, of which 13 were coded as battles, 22 as explosions/remote violence, and 8 as incidents of violence against civilians. Security incidents were recorded in almost all governorate districts, more than half of which in the three districts of Falluja (9), Ramadi (9) and Al-Rutba (7).185

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Figure 7: Security events coded ‘battles’, ‘explosions/remote violence’ and ‘violence against civilians’ in Anbar between August 2024 and 1 August 2025 on district level, based on ACLED data.186

According to ACLED data, government forces (military and police) were in sum involved as main actor (coded as either ‘Actor 1’ or ‘Actor 2’) in 17 security incidents, ISIL militants were involved in 22 security incidents, followed by unidentified armed groups with 8 incidents and unidentified tribal militia with 6 incidents.187 For the period between 1 August 2024 and 1 August 2025, UCDP recorded 8 security events in Anbar governorate, leading to 41 casualties.188

Civilian casualties

During the reference period, UNAMI did not record any civilian casualties in Anbar governorate,189 while UCDP recorded 1 civilian death in the governorate.190

Conflict-related infrastructure damage and ERW

No information on new conflict-related infrastructure damage in the reference period could be found within the time constraints of this report. A spokesperson at the Iraqi Directorate for Mine Action (DMA) stated, in August 2024, that Anbar governorate is one of four governorates with the largest mine-contaminated areas.191 As of the end of 2023, the Mine Action Review estimated that about 11 216 039 square metres of the governorate’s area were contaminated with cluster-munition.192

Conflict-induced displacement and return

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM)193 unit stated in its Iraq Master List Report 134 (covering the period September – December 2024) that, as of 31 December 2024, Anbar governorate was hosting 33 120 displaced people, 17 160 of them in Falluja district, followed by Ramadi district with 6 372 and Al-Rutba district with 2 676. The number of IDPs hosted in Anbar decreased by about 2 % in 2024 compared to 2023. 71 % of these IDPs were displaced within the governorate and 28 % originated from Babil governorate.194 As of December 2024, Anbar had recorded over 1.5 million returnees, with the principal districts of return being Ramadi (603 384) and Falluja (572 928). This amounted to a return rate195 of 93 %.196

  • 162

    UNOCHA and iMMAP, Iraq: Al-Anbar Governorate Reference Map 2020, 5 May 2020, url

  • 163

    Iraq, CSO, الباب الثاني 2022ـ2023 االحصائية المجموعة [Statistical Collection 2022-2023, Part Two], 21 August 2023, url, p. 8

  • 164

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, December 29, 2024, 29 December 2024, url

  • 165

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, January 9, 2025, 9 January 2025, url; ISW and CTP, Iran Update, December 29, 2024, 29 December 2024, url

  • 166

    BBC Monitoring, Briefing: Iraqi militias to redeploy farther from Syrian border amid pressures, 29 December 2024, url

  • 167

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, April 18, 2025, 18 April 2025, url; EPIC, ISHM: April 10 - April 17, 2025, 17 April 2025, url

  • 168

    Shafaq News, Source: Iraq’s Al-Anbar police set to take over security, including sites held by armed factions, 9 January 2025, url

  • 169

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, April 18, 2025, 18 April 2025, url

  • 170

    Al-Hurra, Iraqi Militias Mobilize as Iran-Israel Tensions Reignite Talk of "Unified Front", 21 June 2025, url

  • 171

    Shafaq News, Iraq destroys key ISIS hideout in Al-Anbar, 19 March 2025, url; Shafaq News, Iraq’s PMF launch major operation in desert region, 18 February 2025, url

  • 172

    Rudaw, Iraqi forces disrupt ISIS fuel network in Anbar, 18 April 2025, url; Shafaq News, Iraq destroys key ISIS hideout in Al-Anbar, 19 March 2025, url; Rudaw, PMF launches anti-ISIS operation in Anbar, 17 November 2024, url

  • 173

    Rudaw, Iraq arrests ten suspected ISIS members in separate operations, 24 July 2025, url; Shafaq News, Iraq: ISIS hideouts destroyed, senior leader captured in Al-Anbar, 28 February 2025, url

  • 174

    UNSC, Letter dated 6 February 2025 from the President of the Security Council acting in the absence of a Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council [containing thirty-fourth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities], S/2025/71/Rev.1, 6 February 2025, url, para.66

  • 175

    Shafaq News, ISIS attack claims shepherd’s life in Iraq’s Al-Anbar, 15 May 2025, url; Baghdad Today, بالفيديو.. التنظيم يعاود الظهور في الرطبة ويحرق الشاحنات ويهدد الرعاة [Video: ISIL reappears in Al-Rutba, burning trucks and threatening shepherds], 13 May 2025, url

  • 176

    Baghdad Today, بالفيديو.. التنظيم يعاود الظهور في الرطبة ويحرق الشاحنات ويهدد الرعاة [Video: ISIL reappears in Al-Rutba, burning trucks and threatening shepherds], 13 May 2025, url

  • 177

    Shafaq News, ISIS attack claims shepherd’s life in Iraq’s Al-Anbar, 15 May 2025, url

  • 178

    UNSC, Letter dated 6 February 2025 from the President of the Security Council acting in the absence of a Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council [containing thirty-fourth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities], S/2025/71/Rev.1, 6 February 2025, url, para. 64

  • 179

    Rudaw, Iraqi strike kills two ISIS suspects in Anbar, 29 March 2025, url; BBC News: Islamic State leader in Iraq and Syria killed, US says, 15 March 2025, url; INA, العمليات المشتركة: قتل 5 إرهابيين داخل مضافة شمالي راوة غربي الأنبار [Joint Operations: 5 terrorists killed inside a guest house north of Rawa, west of Anbar], 12 February 2025, url

  • 180

    Baghdad Today, نجاة الشيخ عواد الجغيفي من محاولة اغتيال في الانبار [Sheikh Awad Al-Jughayfi survives assassination attempt in Anbar], 16 September 2024, url

  • 181

    EPIC, ISHM: January 9 - 16, 2025, 16 January 2025, url

  • 182

    EPIC, ISHM: February 6 - 13, 2025, 13 February 2025, url

  • 183

    Shafaq News, مقتل امرأة وإصابة 3 من أفراد عائلتها بانفجار لغم غربي الأنبار [Woman killed and three family members injured in mine explosion in western Anbar], 29 December 2024, url

  • 184

    EPIC, ISHM: May 1 - May 8, 2025, 8 May 2025, url

  • 185

    EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Curated Data Files, Middle East, as of 1 August 2025, url

  • 186

    EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Curated Data Files, Middle East, as of 1 August 2025, url

  • 187

    EUAA analysis based on publicly available ACLED data. ACLED, Curated Data Files, Middle East, as of 1 August 2025, url

  • 188

    EUAA analysis based on UCDP data. UCDP, data covering 1 August 2024 to 1 August 2025 provided by courtesy of UCDP by email, 19 August 2025

  • 189

    EUAA analysis based on UNAMI data. Email to EUAA, 4 August 2025

  • 190

    EUAA analysis based on UCDP data. UCDP, data covering 1 August 2024 to 1 August 2025 provided by courtesy of UCDP by email, 19 August 2025

  • 191

    Rudaw, One-third of Iraq's landmine-contaminated areas remain to be cleared, 12 August 2024, url

  • 192

    Mine Action Review, Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2024 [Table 1], 1 August 2024, url, p. 56

  • 193

    Please note that IOM differentiates between displacement induced by conflict/violence and displacement driven by natural disasters. The displacement due to natural disasters is not included in the DTM data, see IDMC, Country Profile Iraq, n.d., url

  • 194

    IOM Iraq, Displacement Tracking Matrix, Iraq Master List Report 134 (September-December 2024), January 2025, url, p. 4

  • 195

    The return rate is calculated by dividing the number of returnees per governorate by the total number of returnees and IDPs originating from that governorate. (IOM Iraq, Returns in Iraq: 2021 Overview, December 2020 (Round11) to December 2021 (Round 14), February 2022, url, p. 2 footnote 5)

  • 196

    IOM Iraq, Displacement Tracking Matrix, Iraq Master List Report 134 (September-December 2024), January 2025, url, p. 10