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Insurgents are making their presence known with violence across Iraq. IED attacks on a power transmission station in Diyala and electricity pylons in Babel on Monday were followed on Thursday by the deadliest suicide bombing in Baghdad since 2018, leaving at least 32 people dead and over 100 injured.

Reporting for the Associated Press, Samya Kullab and Qassim Abdul-Zahra describe how two bombers detonated explosive vests in the Bab al-Sharqi commercial area in Baghdad's city center. The first suicide bomber cried out and feigned illness in the middle of the busy market, prompting a crowd to gather around him to help before he detonated his explosive belt. As bystanders rushed to aid the victims of the first blast, a second man detonated another suicide bomb.

The self-styled Islamic State (IS) militant group said it had perpetrated the attack — a credible claim, given that the tactics were consistent with previous IS bombings. But some bystanders interviewed shortly after the bombing (and before IS had officially claimed responsibility) pinned blame on politicians, according to Jane Arraf reporting for The New York Times. "It’s because of the elections — they are fighting for positions," said Hussein Nahi, a porter at the scene of the attack. "This is because of disputes by the politicians, because always when elections are close, we pay the price." Even though all available evidence suggests IS militants were responsible, the immediate reaction of bystanders highlights the extent to which many Iraqis feel cynical about the motives of the political class and the ways in which the political system has been compromised by the impunity of politically connected paramilitary groups.

The Baghdad bombing was an aberration, in contrast with a trend of generally improving security in the capital. But the recent attack in Diyala, which was also claimed by IS, provides another reminder of large security gaps in northern Iraq's disputed territories. Leaders in Baghdad and Erbil agreed in 2019 to establish four joint coordination centers along their contested border, but plans have hit multiple obstacles, in a context of wider disputes over oil and revenue sharing. The Diyala joint center, which officials hoped would open at the end of 2020, has not yet been established. Read the full story on Iraq Oil Report.

How To Transport Personnel in a Pandemic

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And to hear directly from FronteraSky President Carlos Barbosa, read his interview with Iraq Oil Report.

More National News

Iraq has postponed national elections. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had called for an early vote to be held on June 6, but now it has been postponed to Oct. 10. The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) – an independent body disconnected from any single branch of government – said more time is needed to register political parties and to carry out biometric voter registration. But even if the biometric system is successfully implemented, it will address only a fraction of the problems Iraq suffered during its previous national elections in May 2018. In the months before voting, the UN issued several dire warnings: vote-counting machines were mistakenly marking valid ballots as invalid; votes were often tabulated incorrectly; and there were not adequate backup procedures for checking the accuracy of preliminary results or conducting recounts. For more, read Iraq Oil Report's investigative report on the 2018 debacle, and read about IHEC's preparations for the 2021 vote.

Sinjar deserves better. Leaders in Baghdad and Erbil recently struck an agreement for the governance of the Sinjar district of northwest Iraq, but the deal has serious flaws, according to Shamiran Mako, writing for Lawfare. The main elements of the agreement call for electing a new mayor, appointing a 2,000-member local security force in Sinjar, inclusive of displaced Yazidis, and establishing a Baghdad-Erbil reconstruction partnership. But the deal consists of broad goals, not concrete plans. It remains unclear what steps will achieve the “disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (if possible) of PKK-affiliated Yazidi forces” as well as “the process for selecting a mayoral candidate not affiliated with powerful political blocs, and the provision of police and security oversight to minimize meddling in local Yazidi affairs." The overarching problem, Mako writes, is that the agreement was forged via "co-opted elites instead of dialogue with civil society organizations." While improving coordination between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is one necessary step, it isn't sufficient for Sinjar. "The absence of Yazidi leaders and stakeholders from the negotiations amplified long-standing grievances between local populations and Baghdad and Erbil," Mako says.

Kadhimi's border crackdown is showing signs of progress. The prime minister's initiative, launched in July 2020, seeks to reduce corruption at customs points across Iraq, which have been a major source of illicit funding for paramilitary factions that have defied government authority. But that is changing. In an interview with Shelly Kittleson, reporting for Al-Monitor, the director of Umm Qasr Port, Mohammed Jassim al-Janabi, said customs revenue from that port alone has skyrocketed — "from 42 billion Iraqi dinars [$36 million] in 2019 to 393 billion [$332 million] in 2020" — even though the pandemic has disrupted the volume of trade. "Janabi claimed that now, with the military guarding the entrances and exits and those manning the port being transferred every few months, corrupt businessmen with links to armed groups had been hit hard."

Oil Companies Face New Regulatory Hurdles

A message from New Frontiers:

International oil companies, oil service companies, and other contractors in Iraq face a major new compliance challenge. The oil sector has long enjoyed a de facto exemption from some Iraqi regulations, including Ministry of Labor requirements associated with social security and work permits. But in September 2020, the government started enforcing the rules on foreign oil contractors. If they don't comply, companies risk severe consequences — including payment delays, visa problems, and exclusion from tenders.

To learn more about these latest challenges, Iraq Oil Report spoke with Steve Rahola and Mustafa al-Janabi, two key leaders of New Frontiers Business Consulting. For more than a decade, New Frontiers — which is also known by its Kurdish-language name, Asteki Nwe — has been on the ground navigating Iraq's bureaucracy, gaining the experience and relationships necessary to help foreign companies. Read the full interview here.

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