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Compiled by Pacific Disaster Management Information Network
This report is published every Wednesday except on U.S. Federal holidays.
May 7, 2008
Overview
Political: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari on Wednesday (May
7) urged Iran and the US to stop trading accusations and find solutions to Iraq’s security crisis by participating in a fourth round of talks, which have been
postponed indefinitely. (Reuters, May-7). Iran on Monday (May 5) suspended
talks with the US on security in Iraq, demanding US forces end their current
assault against Shiite militias. On Friday (May 2), a delegation of Shiite
Iraqi politicians from the ruling United Iraqi Alliance that had arrived in
Iran on April 30 confronted Tehran with a “list of names, training camps and
cells linked to Iran,” said Haider al-Ibadi, a lawmaker from Iraqi prime
minister’s Dawa party, adding, “they [Iranians] claim they are not intervening
in Iraq.” (AP, May-2) On Sunday (May 4), Iraqi government spokesman Ali
al-Dabbagh said there was no “conclusive” evidence Iran was supplying weapons
to militias in Iraq, adding that Iraq does not want trouble with Iran and would not act aggressively toward it. (AP, May-5) The US has long held that Iran funds and aids Shiite militias fighting in Iraq.
The third of five US "surge" brigades is being withdrawn from Baghdad in the next several weeks, the US military said Tuesday (May 6). About 3,500 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry
Division will return to Fort Benning, Georgia. The US will withdraw five
“surge” brigades, some 20,000 troops partially credited with reducing violence,
by the end of July. (Reuters, May-6)
Kurdish rebels mentioned the possibility of suicide attacks
against US interests in retaliation for the US sharing intelligence with Turkey when the Turkish military bombed Kurdish rebel bases. Peritan Derseem, spokesperson
for Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), said some rebels want to join
suicide squads but "combatants are under the control of the
organization," which opposes such attacks. However, she added,
"maybe some day…individual combatants might launch suicide attacks inside Iraq and Turkey, and even against American interests." PJAK engages in armed conflict for an
autonomous Kurdish region in Iran, and is a close offshoot of the better-known
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern
Turkey since 1984. (AP, May-5) Turkey most recently bombed Kurdish targets
in northern Iraq on Friday. (Reuters, May-2)
US military spokesman in Baghdad Lt. Col. Steven Stover said they
consider Sadr City combatants "separate from Moqtada al-Sadr" as
"they're not listening to him." (Reuters, May-4) On Thursday (May
1), three Iraqi deputies from the Sadrist bloc of parliament ministers
denounced Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as "depraved" for the US-backed
government crackdown on Shiite militiamen, namely Mahdi Army members loyal to
the radical anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (BBC, May-1) Ongoing
clashes between Sadr supporters and US and Iraqi forces, particularly in
eastern Baghdad's Sadr City district, are a continuation of conflict sparked by
Maliki's crackdown on militias launched in late March in southern Basrah.
UN: Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for
Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy said on April 30 that some
1,500 Iraqi children were being detained, including 500 in US detention and 1,088 in Iraqi detention. The children, some as young as 10 years of age,
were not allowed outside legal counsel but handled by military advisers.
(UNDPI, Apr-30)
Refugees/Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs): SRSG
Coomaraswamy ended her five-day fact-finding mission to Iraq on April 30 by visiting IDPs and children at a northern Erbil province elementary school for
internally displaced students, who expressed concern about safety and
security. More than half of Iraqi IDPs and refugees are children. (UNAMI,
Apr-30) The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced
April 29 that less than half of the US$261 million it requested in January for
Iraqi refugees and IDPs has been met by donors, which is not enough to sustain
its programs in the second half of 2008. (IRIN, Apr-30) Dozens of families have fled Baghdad’s Sadr City district due to fighting between Sadr militiamen and US forces. (IRIN, Apr-8)
The number of IDPs in Iraq increased to more than 2.77 million by the end of
March, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on
April 1, with over half being displaced after the February 2006 bombing of the
al-Askari shrine in Samarra. More than 1 million IDPs lack adequate food and
shelter and more than 300,000 do not have access to clean water. (AFP, Apr-1)
UNHCR estimated that as
of October 2007, there were 1.4 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, 750,000 in
Jordan, 200,000 in Gulf states, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in
Lebanon and 10,000 in Turkey (over 2.5 million total Iraqi refugees). (BBC,
Nov-21) According to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, 38 percent of IDPs are
women and children, many in need of food, shelter, health care and education.
(Refugees International, Dec-6)
Civil
Society/Rule of Law: The
numbers of deaths in Iraq since March 2003 are estimated by Iraq Body Count
(IBC) as between 83,336 and 90,897 for civilians and 4,382 for coalition
forces, including 4,070 US troops. While 4,900-6,375 Iraqi military
personnel are estimated to have died during the 2003 war, reliable figures are
unavailable for the new Iraqi security forces established in late 2003.
(ReliefWeb, IBC, May-4) According to the London-based Opinion Research
Business (ORB), more than 1 million Iraqis have died as a result of the
conflict in their country since 2003, based on 2,414 in-person interviews and
the last complete Iraqi census covering 4.05 million households in 1997. (Reuters,
Jan-30, AFP, Jan-31) The World Health Organization estimated
151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the three years following the March 2003
US-led invasion of Iraq, based on an Iraqi Health Ministry survey of nearly
10,000 households (Reuters, Jan-9)
Serwa
Abdul-Wahab, a woman journalist, was dragged from a taxi on her way to work and
shot dead by gunmen on Sunday (May 4) in northern Mosul. (BBC, May-4) A text
message was sent to her phone three weeks earlier warning her to stop reporting
or she would be killed. Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for
journalists to work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),
which earlier estimated that 127 Iraqi and foreign journalists had been killed
in Iraq since 2003. (Reuters, May-4) CPJ also found Iraq had the worst record
of prosecuting journalists’ killers according to their Impunity Index, released
in advance of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. (The Nation, May-1)
Humanitarian Situation and
Access: It is becoming harder for
Iraqi aid workers to deliver aid in Baghdad, according to the UN Children’s
Fund (UNICEF). More than 150,000 people have difficulty accessing clean water,
food and other essential services, UNICEF said, as for seven weeks Iraqi forces
and US troops have been cracking down on Shiite militiamen, but face stiff
resistance. Fighting has damaged water and sewage pipes, posing health risks,
while it also traps people at home, unable to move about their communities.
(BBC, May-6) Government officials and residents of the Shiite Sadr City district in eastern Baghdad on April 30 accused followers of Moqtada al-Sadr of
attacking aid convoys. (See Central/West Regions – Baghdad) (IRIN, May-1)
A US$1.56 million grant from
the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) enabled 11 NGOs to continue
humanitarian activities in Iraq. (UNOCHA, Apr-11)
There are some 32
humanitarian international NGOs with programs in Iraq, operating directly or
via implementing partners. (UNOCHA, Dec-31) More than two-thirds of the aid
groups present in Iraq in 2003 left due to increasing violence. (Reuters,
Nov-21) Since the 2003 US-led invasion, at least 94 aid workers have been
killed (Reuters, Nov-21), 86 kidnapped, 245 injured and 24 arrested in Iraq. The Iraqi Red Crescent Society is the only agency operating openly nation-wide
through its 18 branches. (UNOCHA, Sept-24)
Economy/Oil: Iraqi crude oil production averaged 2.22 million barrels
per day (MBPD) the week of April 21-27, unchanged from the previous week. (US
State Dept, Apr-30) The Iraqi Oil
Ministry’s weekly production goal for 2008 is 2.2 MBPD, compared to last year's
goal of 2.1 MBPD.
At
least one-third of the fuel from Iraq's largest refinery in Baiji is diverted
to the black market and sustains insurgency in Iraq, US military officials
said. (IHT, Mar-16)
Water/Power: Daily electricity demand in
Iraq from April 23-29 was 18 percent higher than
in the same period in 2007. The daily supply from the grid was four percent higher than the same time frame last
year and met 53 percent of demand, compared with meeting 60 percent of demand
the year before. Electricity demand has been growing as much as nine percent
per year, partly due to rising economic activity, and could increase as high as
20 percent during the summer months, according to US State Department
Coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq Charles Ries. An estimated 4,200
megawatts (MW) of power is currently being produced, but 9,000 MW is needed to meet
current demand and 11,000 MW could be needed to meet summer demand. Old
equipment, lack of maintenance, and fuel shortages are primarily responsible
for the government’s inability to meet electricity demand. (US State Dept,
Apr-30)
Currently, only 17 percent of
Iraq’s sewage is treated before being discharged into waterways, raising
disease concerns. (UNICEF, Mar-20) Nearly 75 percent of
Iraqis have no access to a good sewage system and 65 percent have no access to
piped drinking water. (IRIN, Mar-16)
Food: The Iraqi government plans to limit the national food
ration system, known as the Public Distribution System (PDS), in June to only
those deemed needy, excluding an estimated 5 million Iraqis. Additionally,
starting this year, food rations were reduced in the ration package. Rising
international food prices and high Iraqi inflation are expected to drive the
cost of the rationing program this year to more than US$7 billion, compared to
over US$3 billion in 2007. (WSJ, Feb-26) ”This will leave many
poor families in danger and especially IDPs,” Baghdad Health Directorate food
security expert Mohammed Falah Ibrahim said, commenting last year on the
planned reduction of rations. (IRIN, Dec-4) Four million people are in need of
food assistance and 40 percent of Iraq’s population of 27 million people has no
safe water, according to the UN. (Reuters, Feb-12) One in four children under
five years of age in Iraq is chronically malnourished. Only one-third of
children under five have access to safe drinking water. (UNOCHA, Dec-31)
The UN World Food Program (WFP) has launched a US$126 million one-year
emergency operation to feed more than 1 million displaced Iraqis unable to meet
their basic needs. The program targets some 750,000 IDPs without access to Iraq’s PDS rations and more than 360,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria. (WFP, Jan-3)
Health/Medical: Mercy Corps is working with DHL to send US$9.6 million
in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to southern Iraq via the Netherlands and Kuwait, to be distributed to hospitals in Kut (Wasit), Diwaniya (Qadissiya), Amarah
(Maysan) and Basrah. (Mercy Corps, Apr-28)
Up to 75 percent of doctors,
nurses and pharmacists have left their jobs since the US-led invasion in March
2003, with more than half of those leaving Iraq, according to the report
“Rehabilitation Under Fire: Health Care in Iraq 2003-2007” by the health
organization Medact on January 16. (Reuters, Jan-16)
North Region
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Erbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah
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Coordination
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US forces handed responsibility for security in Iraq’s three northern provinces of Erbil, Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah to the Kurdish regional
government. (AFP, May-30)
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Population
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Population of Erbil: 1,334,176
Population of Sulaymaniyah:
1,605,506
Population of Dahuk:
817,376
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IDP Movement
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Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
province/governorate
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Province
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Current
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Historical
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Individuals displaced
after Feb 2006
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Families displaced
after Feb 2006
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Families displaced 2003-2005
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Families displaced pre-2003
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Erbil
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34,717
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6,104
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76
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32,737
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Dahuk
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55,151
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9,617
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22
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22,452
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Sulaymaniyah
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73,534
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13,165
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35
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50,430
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(IASC, Kurdistan Regional
Government, November 2007)
Turkey’s military ground incursion into northern Iraq forced at least 12 Kurdish families to flee their homes and destroyed four bridges,
the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on February 24. Renewed fighting
in December between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish military forced 700
families to flee border villages. Nearly half of them returned in January to
damaged infrastructure and homes, the IRCS said. (IRIN, Feb-24) Prior to the
Turkish ground invasion, 60,000 Shiite and Sunni Iraqis came to Kurdistan fleeing sectarian violence. (Reuters, Oct-23)
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Food
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No New Information
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Health
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Health authorities in the
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region are preparing for a possible cholera
outbreak. At least US$20 million (25 billion IQD) has been allocated to
fight a possible outbreak following a rise in concern last month when at
least 500 patients with diarrhea and vomiting were admitted to hospitals,
Mohammed Sadiq from the regional Health Ministry said on Tuesday (May 6).
Northern Iraq was most affected by the last cholera outbreak first confirmed
on August 14, with 2,309 cases in At Tamim, at least 870 cases in
Sulaymaniyah and 275 cases in Erbil. (IRIN, May-7)
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Non-Food Items –Shelter
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No New Information
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Water
& Sanitation
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No New Information
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Security
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On Friday (May-2), the
Turkish military said it intensively bombed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel
targets overnight in the Qandil mountains, which run through Sulaymaniyah and
Erbil provinces. There was no word of any casualties, a PKK spokesman said.
(Reuters, May-2) The latest
bombing comes a week after Turkey bombed PKK targets on April 25-26, in what
the Turkish military had described as the biggest Turkish air operation in
northern Iraq this year, though the PKK reported no casualties. (Reuters,
Times of India, Apr-27)
On March 23, Iran shelled Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) rebel targets in Iraq's Qandil mountains,
with no reported casualties or damage. (NYT, Oct-23)
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Other/Comments
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In Erbil province, Mines
Advisory Group (MAG) teams searched and cleared 617,762 sq. ft. (57,392 sq.
m.) of contaminated land and destroyed 2,046 hazardous items in the Soran
area. In Dahuk province, MAG teams cleared 2,621,766 sq. ft. (243,750 sq.
m.) of land and destroyed 368 hazardous items. In Sulaymaniya province, MAG
teams cleared 2,116,949 (196,671 sq. m.) of land and destroyed 72 hazardous items
in the Sulaymaniyah and Chamchamal areas. (MAG, Apr-24)
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At Tamim, Ninawa,
Salah ad Din
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Coordination
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Five NGOs closed their
offices in Mosul (in Ninawa) because of increased violence against aid
workers: Mosul Human Rights Association, Supporting Children With Cancer,
Ruweida Aid Agency, and two preferring to remain unnamed. The past six
months have especially affected relief agencies’ work, according to the
Association for NGOs in Northern Iraq. Armed groups pose the largest threat
to aid agencies. But an Iraqi Voices of Freedom volunteer said another
problem is aid workers being detained by police after returning from
displacement areas with suspected insurgents. (IRIN, Sept-24)
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Population
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Population of Mosul: 1.7 million
Population of Kirkuk: 755,700
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IDP Movement
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Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
Province/Governorate
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Province
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Current
|
Historical
|
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Individuals displaced
after Feb 2006
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Families displaced
after Feb 2006
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Families displaced 2003-2005
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Families displaced pre-2003
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At Tamim
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36,315
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6,604
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1,068
|
184
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Ninawa
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66,970
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12,118
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4,625
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1,947
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Salah ad Din
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31,017
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5,326
|
3,006
|
360
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(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of
Displacement and Migration, November 2007)
Some 36,000 Iraqi Arabs,
among many tens of thousands who were relocated to the Kirkuk region under
Saddam Hussein to “Arabize” the area, have signed up for a government plan
offering them US$16,000 to leave the area and return to their original
homelands. Less than 1,000 of the 36,000 requests have been processed, said
Babakir Sidiq Ahmed of the Kurdish regional authority. (AFP, Nov-21)
Of 10,337 displaced
families surveyed in At Tamim, Salah ad Din and Diyala provinces, over 92
percent said they had not received any humanitarian aid. (Mercy Corps,
Oct-31)
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Food
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No New Information
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Health
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According to the Iraqi
Health Ministry, there were five deaths out of 3,006 laboratory-confirmed
cholera cases in At Tamim province. (Reuters, Nov-22) According to the WHO,
as of November 8, there had been one fatality out of six confirmed cholera
cases in Ninawa and five confirmed cholera cases but no deaths in Salah ad
Din. (WHO, Nov-8) The earliest laboratory confirmation of the current
cholera outbreak occurred on August 14 in At Tamim. (Reuters, Sept-11)
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Non-Food Items –Shelter
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No New Information
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Water & Sanitation
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In
Ninawa province, the Mosul dam is at risk of collapsing, triggering a 65-foot
(20-meter) wave upon Mosul and endangering the lives of 500,000 residents,
according to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Ninawa’s governor was concerned
enough to request all water be immediately drained, but dam manager Abdul
Khalik Thanoon Ayoub and Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Abdul Latif Rashid
do not believe the situation is as critical as US reports claim. (Washington Post, Oct-29)
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Security
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In At Tamim province, on
Thursday (May-1), a booby-trapped bicycle targeted a US-backed Sunni
neighborhood patrol in Hawijah, about 124 miles (200 km) north of Baghdad, wounding two members of the patrol and a child. On Saturday (May-3), a roadside
bomb wounded three policemen when it struck their patrol in the provincial
capital, Kirkuk, 143 miles (230 km) north of Baghdad. On Monday (May-5), a
roadside bomb blast killed one policeman and wounded five others when it hit
their patrol in central Kirkuk. A roadside bomb killed one policeman and
wounded seven in Kirkuk. The US military captured a mid-level al-Qaeda
leader and detained another six suspects.
In Ninawa province, on
Thursday, a US soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his
patrol. On Friday (May-2), the US military killed four gunmen and detained
10 suspects in operations targeting al-Qaeda over the past two days around the
provincial capital, Mosul, 217 miles (350 km) north of Baghdad. On Saturday,
a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, wounding three policemen in
eastern Mosul. The Iraqi army shot dead a suicide car bomber, thwarting an
attempted attack on their base in Mosul. One soldier was wounded in the
incident. The body of a man was found with gunshot wounds to the head and
chest in Mosul. On Sunday (May-4), gunmen shot dead a civilian man in Mosul. Iraqi police found a body dumped in western Mosul’s al-Hirmat neighborhood. A man
was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their
vehicle in Mosul. The body of a decapitated man wearing a military uniform
was found in Mosul. On Monday, gunmen stormed an apartment and shot dead
three women and wounded two others in northern Mosul. Gunmen stormed a house
in eastern Mosul, killing one person. On Tuesday (May-6), a roadside bomb
hit an Iraqi army patrol, killing one soldier and wounding two in western Mosul. Two militants accidentally blew themselves up trying to place a bomb on a road
south of Mosul. Gunmen ambushed a police patrol, killing two policemen and a
civilian and wounding two other policemen in western Mosul.
In Salah ad Din province,
on Thursday, four foreign fighters were killed and eight Iraqis were arrested
when US and Iraqi forces battled al-Qaeda militants in a village east of
Dhuluiya, 45 miles (70 km) north of Baghdad. On Saturday, a mortar killed
one child and wounded two other children in Shirqat, 162 miles (260 km) northwest of Baghdad. A roadside
bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol, killing two Iraqi soldiers and wounding
four others on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Tikrit, 93 miles (150
km) north of Baghdad. On Sunday, two women were killed by bombs planted near
a policeman's house in a village near Balad, 47 miles (75 km) north of Baghdad. On Tuesday, a parked car bomb killed at least four people and wounded 21 in
Tikrit. (Reuters, May
1-7)
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Other/Comments
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Iraqi authorities imposed
curfews on Samarra (Salah ad Din) and Tikrit (At Tamim) to prevent violence
on April 9, the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to US forces.
(Reuters, Apr-9)
The US military expects to rid Mosul of al-Qaeda militants in several months. “Operations will last for
at least a few more months,” said Brig. Gen. Tony Thomas, second in command
in northern Iraq. “We’re slowly but surely eliminating [al-Qaeda’s] toe-hold
in the city,” he added. (Reuters, Mar-4)
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Central/West Regions
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Anbar, Diyala,
Karbala, Babil, Wasit, Najaf, Qadissiya
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Coordination
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US Maj-Gen Walter Gaskin
said due to reduced violence, security for Anbar province may be transferred
to Iraqi forces in March. (BBC, Jan-11) The handover of security for Babil
province to Iraqi forces, projected for December 18, has been delayed
indefinitely. (LA Times, Dec-18) US forces turned over control of security
in Karbala province to Iraqi troops on October 29, with US troops staying in reserve positions. (AP, Oct-28) The US 3rd Brigade, 1st
Cavalry Division began withdrawing from Diyala, reducing the number of combat
brigades from 20 to 19. (AP, Nov-12)
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Population
|
Population of Anbar:
1,270,952
Population of Diyala:
1,271,310
Population of Karbala: 741,744
Population of Wasit:
938,734
Population of Najaf:
950,222
Population of Qadissiya:
915,564
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|
IDP Movement
|
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
Province/Governorate
|
Province
|
Individuals displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced 2003-2005
|
Families displaced pre-2003
|
|
Anbar
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61,350
|
10,225
|
4,685
|
218
|
|
Diyala
|
76,601
|
12,796
|
6,691
|
2,409
|
|
Karbala
|
57,406
|
8,826
|
1,328
|
17,490
|
|
Babil
|
65,694
|
10,701
|
821
|
654
|
|
Wasit
|
69,425
|
11,257
|
1,960
|
70
|
|
Najaf
|
60,459
|
10,400
|
160
|
3,833
|
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Qadissiya
|
22,336
|
3,577
|
932
|
222
|
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of
Displacement and Migration, IOM, November 2007)
|
|
Food
|
The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) on April 2 delivered 250 food parcels to the
Diwaniya hospital in Qadissiya province. (IOM, Apr-2)
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|
Health
|
Church World Service has focused
distribution of medical supplies from December through early March to Diyala
and Kirkuk (At Tamim), but has also delivered to Karbala, Babil, Wasit and
Basrah. (CWS, Apr-24)
In Anbar province, measles has infected 100 children, leading the
Health Ministry, WHO and UNICEF to launch a 10-day vaccination campaign on
March 9, targeting 200,000 children. (Reuters, Mar-11)
In Qadissiya province, as of February
18 at least 275 cases of leishmaniasis were reported, primarily among
children, marking a significant increase from the 180 cases reported as of
February 11. The current
caseload comprises 212 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, also known as Baghdad boil disease, and 63 cases of visceral leishmaniasis, also called kala azar.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis, the most common form, causes up to 200 simple skin
lesions, which usually heal on their own within a few months
but leave permanent scars. Visceral leishmaniasis can be fatal and
causes fever, weight loss, anemia, and swelling of the spleen and liver.
Leishmaniasis, a skin disease
transmitted by sand flies, has an incubation period of up to six months.
(IRIN, Feb-18)
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Non-Food Items –Shelter
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In Babil province, on April
8, US soldiers, including civil affairs personnel, distributed backpacks
filled with school supplies, soccer balls and notebooks to the al-Raqhaa
primary and secondary school and the Abu Shear primary school in the Monsouri
area just outside Forward Operating Base Kalsu in Iskandariya. (US
Government, Apr-18)
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Water & Sanitation
|
UN Special Rapporteur on
the Right to Food Jean Ziegler issued a call on March 6 for restoration of
the water supply destroyed by bombing in Iraq. She specifically expressed
concern for the deteriorating conditions in Diyala province’s Ashraf camp,
following a February 8 explosion that destroyed water pumps in Zorganieh,
which supply the area. (UNHRC, Mar-6)
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Security
|
In Anbar province,
on Friday (May-2), four US
Marines were killed by a roadside bomb. On Tuesday (May-6), a US soldier was killed in an attack on his convoy in Falluja, 32 miles (50 km) west of Baghdad.
In Diyala
province, on Thursday (May-1), according to the US military, 29 people were
killed and 52 wounded in two
suicide bombings carried out by a woman pretending to be pregnant and a male
accomplice in the town of Balad Ruz, 44 miles (70 km) northeast of Baghdad. Iraqi
security sources said there were 30 dead and 65 wounded. On Friday, Iraqi police arrested 75 suspected militants and
recovered weapons and munitions in Balad-Ruz. On Monday (May-5), militants
attacked an Iraqi Army checkpoint, killing 10 soldiers and wounding 13
others.
In Babil province, on
Tuesday, gunmen shot dead a teacher as he left his school in Yusufiya, 15
miles (25 km) south of Baghdad. On Wednesday (May-7), four guards protecting
an oil pipeline were seriously wounded when a bomb exploded at a power
station in Mussayab, 37 miles (60 km) south of Baghdad. Gunmen shot dead an
army officer as he left his house in the town of Numaniya, 81 miles (130 km) southeast
of Baghdad.
In Wasit province, on
Wednesday, police imposed a curfew on the town of al-Hay, 120 miles (200 km) south
of Baghdad, following clashes with militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr during a raid on Sadr's office, which resulted in two people being
wounded. (Reuters,
May 1-7)
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|
Other/Comments
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In
Karbala province, International Medical Corps (IMC) helped launch crisis
management training courses last week for 50 local ministry representatives
as well as delegates from police and other provinces. IMC focuses on
emergency preparedness and capacity training in Iraq. (IMC, May-1)
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Baghdad
|
Baghdad
|
|
Coordination
|
Government officials and
residents of the Shiite Sadr City district in eastern Baghdad on April 30
accused followers of Moqtada al-Sadr of attacking aid convoys. “A total of
22 trucks laden with cooking gas cylinders managed to enter over the past
three weeks out of the 77 sent by the oil Ministry,” government spokesman
Tahsin al-Sheikhli said. Abbas Owaid, director-general of Fatima al-Zahra
hospital in Sadr City, said hospitals still have a shortage of supplies and
face problems with ambulances “as neither side trusts us and then they attack
the ambulances.” (IRIN, May-1)
On Tuesday (May 6), Iraqi
security officials said they closed down a Sadr City hospital suspected of
treating Shiite militiamen. “At 9 a.m., around 40 soldiers and their officers
stormed the hospital…they beat some people, including me,” said Dr. Yassin
al-Rikabi, head of Mohammed-Badr Hakim Hospital. The raid, in which 35
hospital workers were arrested, prompted hospital staff to protest outside
the Health Ministry. (Reuters, May-6)
|
|
Population
|
Population: 6,726,432
million
|
|
IDP Movement
|
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
Province/Governorate
|
|
Current
|
Historical
|
|
Province
|
Individuals displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced 2003-2005
|
Families displaced pre-2003
|
|
Baghdad
|
365,618
|
59,346
|
1,586
|
2,281
|
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of
Displacement and Migration (MoDM), November 2007)
Baghdad authorities have placed two football stadiums on
stand-by to receive displaced residents, in anticipation of an exodus of
thousands of people from eastern Baghdad, where clashes have intensified
recently as Shiite militiamen fight Iraqi and US forces. (BBC, May-7) Fighting has occurred in the capital’s eastern Sadr City and Shula districts since March 25. (IRIN, Apr-8)
At the end of 2007, Iraq’s MoDM reported that 9,657 IDP families (some 60,000 people) had returned to Baghdad. The
Iraqi Red Crescent stated 46,000 refugees had returned from Syria to Baghdad by the end of December. (IOM, Feb-1)
|
|
Food
|
In Sadr City, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on April 23 delivered 24,000 food
tins to supply 1,000 families with food for one week. On March 20, the ICRC
delivered 700 parcels, each parcel equipped to supply a family with two weeks
of food, to the Social Committee of Sadr Office, which distributed the items
to families. The ICRC daily transports nearly 2,642 gallons (10,000 liters)
to Sadr City. The ICRC on April 23 also delivered 350 family food parcels to
western Baghdad’s Al Amirya and Hay Al Adel neighborhoods. From April 17-19,
the ICRC distributed 400 family food parcels in Al Adamyah and Taji, west of Baghdad. (ICRC, Apr-23) Sadr City faces food shortages due to fire damage to al-Jamila
market on April 6. (UNOCHA, Apr-15)
|
|
Health
|
The ICRC said on April 23
that Sadr City residents had been living under worsening conditions due to
clashes that began March 25 between the government and Sadr fighters, which
eased too briefly on April 12 to allow residents to adequately restock food
and water or seek medical care. Although humanitarian aid could still be
delivered, the conflict had disrupted daily life as schools and other
government offices remain closed and municipality teams are not back to work,
resulting in piled-up garbage, clogged sewage channels and contaminated
drinking water. (IRIN, Apr-24) The ICRC on April 23 distributed three tons
of medical items to Sadr City General Hospital, Al Imam Ali General Hospital
and Ibn Al Baldi Pediatric Hospital in Sadr City. (ICRC, Apr-23) Church
World Service delivered supplies in Sadr City to Imam Ali Hospital on April 10 and to Sadr Hospital on April 15. (CWS, Apr-24)
|
|
Non-Food Items –Shelter
|
The ICRC on April 23
delivered 1,750 blankets and 350 hygiene kits to families in Al Amirya and
Hay Al Adel neighborhoods. From April 17-19, the ICRC distributed 2,000
blankets and 400 hygiene kits to families in Al Adamyah and Taji, west of Baghdad. (ICRC, Apr-23)
|
|
Security
|
On Thursday (May-1), US
forces said they killed 18 fighters in clashes that started the day before
and ran overnight in eastern Baghdad’s Shiite district of Sadr City, a
stronghold of followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Police
also put the death toll from fighting during that time period at 18, including
two women and two children. A bomb blast near a US patrol killed nine people
and wounded 23 in eastern Baghdad's Camp Sara district.
A mortar shell landed on
the al-Salhiya residential compound in central Baghdad, wounding three people.
US forces killed two gunmen in two separate air strikes in Sadr City. A US Predator aerial drone crashed in southern Iraq, but the US military did not say where the remotely piloted plane went down. Mechanical failure was
suspected and an investigation has been launched. Police found five bodies
in different areas of Baghdad.
On Friday (May-2), the US military arrested three wanted al-Qaeda members and another six suspects in different districts
of Baghdad over the past two days. Clashes erupted overnight between US
forces and Mahdi army militants loyal to Sadr in southwestern Baghdad’s al-Amil district, resulting in four militants killed and 12 wounded. Seven
people were killed and nine others were wounded in clashes overnight between
US forces and Mahdi army fighters in eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City. US forces and the Iraqi army killed 14 militants in separate incidents in eastern Baghdad, and hospital officials in eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City said 14 bodies had been
brought in overnight and that 25 people had been wounded. A US soldier died from wounds sustained when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle during a combat patrol
in eastern Baghdad. A rocket hit an apartment block, killing two people and
wounding seven others in Baghdad's central Salihiya district. Three bodies were
found in different districts of Baghdad.
On Saturday (May-3), two
rockets landed near the al-Sadr hospital in Sadr City, wounding 20 people,
including women and children, and incinerating or damaging 11 ambulances. A
roadside bomb killed a civilian and wounded eight other people, including six
traffic policemen, when it exploded near a traffic patrol in western Baghdad’s Jamiaa district. The bodies of four people were found in Baghdad.
On Sunday (May-4), US
forces killed 11 suspected al-Qaeda militants and detained another 23 in
separate operations in central and northern Iraq. The US military killed nine militants in helicopter strikes overnight in eastern Baghdad, primarily in Sadr City. A bomb exploded near the convoy of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's wife, Hiro
Ibrahim Ahmed, who was unhurt, but four bodyguards were wounded. Two
roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in al-Maamoun neighborhood in
western Baghdad, killing a traffic policeman and a civilian and wounding
eight people, including four traffic police. A roadside bomb wounded two
soldiers on patrol on the northwestern outskirts of Baghdad. A roadside bomb
wounded three people, including two children, in eastern Baghdad's Zayouna
district. A mortar bomb wounded five people in eastern Baghdad’s Ghadir
district. Gunmen killed Ayad Hamza, the deputy director of Nahrain University in charge of sciences, and wounded his two sons in a drive-by shooting in
western Baghdad’s Mansour district. Three bodies were found in different districts
across Baghdad.
On Monday (May-5), the
Iraqi army killed six militants and detained 149 others in separate incidents
across the country. The US military said it killed nine Shiite militants
during overnight operations in Baghdad. Health officials said 41 people,
including women and children had been wounded since the previous day in Sadr City. (AP, May-5) US forces killed two militants and discovered two weapons caches in
Baghdad. Four bodies were found in different districts of Baghdad.
On Tuesday (May-6), the
Iraqi army arrested 97 militants in various parts of Iraq. Iraqi special forces and US troops killed seven militiamen and detained two others in two
battles over the past two days in Baghdad. Iraqi and US forces detained 15
militants in operations against al-Qaeda in different parts of the country. Three
people were killed, including a female college student, and nine wounded in
clashes between police and militants in southern Baghdad’s Abu Dsheer
district. Two mortar bombs landed near Baghdad's municipal headquarters, killing
three people and wounding 10, including four officers from the Facility
Protection Services, which guards government buildings and infrastructure. A
Katyusha missile wounded five people, some of them students, when it landed
near the private Al-Mansour University College in central Baghdad’s Karrada
district. Two mortars wounded 12 people, including five policemen, near
Utaifiya neighborhood in central Baghdad. Five people were wounded when a
Katyusha rocket landed near the Sarafiya Bridge in central Baghdad. Three
mortar rounds wounded 10 people when they landed on a residential area in the
Jaifer area of Baghdad.
Iraqi special forces
detained seven people suspected of attacking US and Iraqi forces in Sadr City. Iraqi and US soldiers killed nine militants and discovered weapons caches
during night raids over the past two days in Baghdad. Iraqi security forces
killed 10 militants, arrested 131 others, and seized a quantity of weapons
during two days of operations in northwestern Baghdad’s Shula district.
Iraqi soldiers detained 42 policemen suspected of collaborating with
“outlaws,” a reference to Shiite militiamen, who are believed to have
infiltrated the Iraqi police. Three bodies were found in different areas of Baghdad. (Reuters, May 1-7)
|
|
Water & Sanitation
|
In Sadr city, areas
affected by sewage problems include al-Gaiara, Shwader, al-Jewader, al-Dakel,
al-Falah, al-Quyeria and sectors 4, 9, and 60, according to WHO and UNAMI.
Lack of potable water is a critical issue in these areas as armored vehicles
have torn up the road, exposing drinking water pipes to raw sewage. (UNOCHA,
Apr-15)
Tahseen Sheikhly, civilian
spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, gave a grim assessment of Baghdad’s sewage situation on February 3. Out of three sewage treatment plans, one is out
of commission, one is working at partial capacity and one has a pipe blockage
creating a lake of sewage large enough to be seen “as a big black spot on
Google Earth,” Sheikhly said. He stated that water pipes in the capital were
too old to pump sufficient water to meet demand, partially blaming the Saddam
Hussein regime for not maintaining basic infrastructure. (AFP, Feb-3)
|
|
Other/Comments
|
“Over the past six months,
15 women were killed in al-Salam neighborhood [in western Baghdad] for
religious reasons, or because they had criticized the militants, or because
of their previous affiliation to the Baath Party [ruling party of former
President Saddam Hussein],” Member of Parliament Safia al-Suhail said on
April 22. (IRIN, Apr-23)
Eastern Baghdad’s Shiite
slum, Sadr City holds an estimated 2 million people, including more than
500,000 school-age children, but only has 260 school buildings. “We need more
than 4,300 new schools, existing schools are in bad condition and the
population is growing,” said Education Minister Khodhair al-Khozaei. Schools
in violent areas have closed, while remaining schools are overwhelmed with
displaced children. (Reuters, Apr-22)
|
South Region
|
Basrah
|
|
Coordination
|
British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown said April 15 that plans to reduce UK troops in southern Iraq from 4,000 to 2,500 would remain on hold until local security forces win the battle to
drive out militia groups. (Apr-15, The News-Jang Group)
On December 16, with Washington’s backing, Britain handed over security to Iraqi forces in Basrah, the last of
four provinces it once patrolled, signifying the end of more than five years
of British control of southern Iraq. Maintaining security in Basrah is
considered a huge test of Iraqi security forces. (Reuters, Dec-17) The
handover includes Iraqi staff taking control of Basrah airport for the first
time since 2003, where 250 civilian flights occur per month. (UK Government, Dec-21)
|
|
Population
|
Population of Basrah: 1,835,400
|
|
IDP Movement
|
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
Province/Governorate
|
|
Current
|
Historical
|
|
Province
|
Individuals displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced
after Feb 2006
|
Families displaced 2003-2005
|
Families displaced pre-2003
|
|
Basrah
|
26,110
|
4,158
|
284
|
15,494
|
(IASC, Iraqi Ministry of
Displacement and Migration, November 2007)
Basrah province stopped
allowing displaced Iraqis to enter, with dozens of arriving families getting
turned back on November 9 and 10. “At least 60 percent of displaced children
taking refuge in the province don’t attend school, more than 70 percent are
suffering from acute or chronic malnutrition and the health service lacks
essential medicines,” said South Peace Organization spokesperson Mayada
Obeid, adding, “the local government and NGOs are unable to cope even with
those who have already settled there.” (IRIN, Nov-13)
|
|
Food
|
The Iraqi army distributed
food and other aid in Basrah, the army and Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS)
said April 20. “We’ve adopted a new strategy in tandem with our military
operations against militants…by distributing food parcels to families who
live in areas where clashes are taking place, and we are also allowing them
to go out and buy basic essentials,” Maj. Emad Saad al-Amili said. Salih
Hmoud, IRCS head in Basrah, said aid operations were not disrupted by the
fighting. “Our teams…are distributing an average of 200 food parcels a day
in addition to medicines and food,” Hmoud said. (IRIN, Apr-21)
|
|
Health
|
Church World Service
delivered 40 medical kits to Basrah hospitals on April 2. (CWS, Apr-24)
UNICEF delivered medical supplies to Aljomhoory and Almawanee general
hospitals in Basrah city. (UNOHCA, Apr-2)
|
|
Non-Food Items –Shelter
|
| | |
