The Islamic State (IS) carried out 1.112 suicide attacks in Syria and Iraq throughout 2016, according to the agency close to the terrorist group, Amaq.In an infographic disseminated through Instagram, the agency indicated that the majority of attacks of this type were carried out with vehicles loaded with explosives.In total, 815 suicide bombers from the jihadist group used this system to attack the different groups fighting the Islamic State in both countries, where the Islamic State group proclaimed itself a caliphate in 2014.Senior commanders of the Iraqi forces have recognized on numerous occasions that car bombs and suicide bombers in general have become one of the main weapons of the jihadists to try to stop the advance of the Iraqi troops or hit their forces with the intention to undermine the morale of the combatants.The most used method after the car bomb has been that of the suicidal jihadist with an explosive belt. In the past twelve months, 214 extremists have attacked this system, according to that count.In addition, another 82 suicide bombers wore explosive vests in their attacks.Amaq also claims that 18 attacks were carried out with truck bombs and one with a motorcycle.Of the 1.112 suicide attacks, the agency says 761 were launched in Iraq against Iraqi security forces and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.311 of the attacks were concentrated in Nineveh, whose capital is Mosul, and where Iraqi troops began an offensive on October 17 to expel radicals from this province.The other Iraqi provinces hardest hit, always according to Amaq, were Al Anbar, Saladin and Baghdad.The rest of the attacks, that is, 352, were perpetrated in Syria, 133 of them against the forces loyal to the Government of Bashar al Assad, 135 against the Kurdish militias of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the remaining 83 against the Syrian armed opposition and the Turkish army.Syrian rebel forces, backed by Turkey, are fighting the Islamic State in its main stronghold in northern Syria, located in the Al Bab region.In Syria, the province where the Islamic State carried out the most suicide attacks was Aleppo, with 150, followed by Al Hasake, Derzor and Al Raqa. In the capital, Damascus, jihadists committed 18 suicide attacks.On the other hand, the agency highlighted that among the months in which the most attacks were launched were October, November and December, months that coincided with the beginning in Iraq of the offensive to take Mosul from the jihadists. EFEPost navigation
