Terrorism in Iraq
The risk of terrorist attacks in Iraq over the past years can be classified as extremely high. Worldwide this is one of the most dangerous countries with the most and devastating attacks. Over the past 5 years a total number of 13232 terrorist incidents has been recorded, in which 37476 people have been killed and 59419 injured. Among them were 1203 suicide acts.In 610 incedents a total of 17573 people have been kidnapped or taken as hostage, though a ransom was rarely (10 times) extorted.
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Most frequent attack targets in Iraq
(2013 to 2017)| Target | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private citizens | 6142 | 21,399 | 36,170 | 13,695 |
| Police | 2073 | 6,887 | 7,585 | 1,681 |
| Business | 1431 | 3,761 | 9,390 | 334 |
| Non-state militias | 874 | 3,688 | 3,488 | 411 |
| Government | 866 | 1,378 | 2,010 | 497 |
| Military | 655 | 4,132 | 3,576 | 1,338 |
| Religious institutions | 284 | 1,064 | 2,116 | 30 |
| Utilities | 230 | 370 | 137 | 98 |
| Transportation | 228 | 452 | 1,090 | 9 |
| Educational institution | 126 | 142 | 450 | 65 |
Most affected regions
(2013 to 2017)| Region | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baghdad | 3821 | 8,842 | 25,064 | 154 |
| Saladin | 2210 | 5,482 | 8,986 | 943 |
| Al Anbar | 1985 | 6,582 | 5,372 | 4,291 |
| Diyala | 1725 | 3,703 | 7,459 | 395 |
| Nineveh | 1671 | 8,396 | 3,220 | 5,932 |
| Kirkuk | 847 | 1,743 | 3,945 | 5,381 |
| Babil | 592 | 1,599 | 3,659 | 268 |
| Basra | 80 | 108 | 237 | 6 |
| Arbil | 48 | 409 | 114 | 90 |
| Wasit | 47 | 110 | 334 | 2 |
| Karbala | 44 | 116 | 290 | 0 |
| Dhi Qar | 29 | 129 | 253 | 3 |
| Al Qadisiyah | 23 | 20 | 113 | 0 |
| Sulaymaniyah | 20 | 19 | 22 | 2 |
| Najaf | 12 | 26 | 82 | 0 |
| Muthanna | 11 | 53 | 123 | 26 |
| Maysan | 7 | 18 | 83 | 1 |
| Dihok | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Terrorist organisations in Iraq
| Organisation | Attacks | Killed | Injured | Hostages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islamic State | 3803 | 22,127 | 20,966 | 15,106 |
| Al-Qaida | 74 | 350 | 927 | 2 |
| Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq | 57 | 111 | 37 | 91 |
| Al-Naqshabandiya Army | 23 | 123 | 113 | 0 |
| Mukhtar Army | 4 | 35 | 130 | 0 |
| Pro-Government extremists | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Kata'ib Hezbollah | 3 | 49 | 600 | 1,527 |
| Ansar al-Islam | 2 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| Muslim extremists | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Badr Brigades | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Al-Nusrah Front | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
All information sourced from the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" (START) and its Global Terrorism Database. An act of terrorism is concidered every incident which is aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal, but not for pure profit motives. In addition these incidents must not be legitimized by warfare activities, listet in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.