2013 Hawija clashes

2013 Hawija clashes
	Part of the Iraqi insurgency and the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests
Date	23 April 2013 – 26 April 2013; (3 days)
Location	Initial clashes in Hawija, Kirkuk Governorate,; later spread to central and northern Iraq
Result	Insurgents briefly take over the town of Suleiman Bek on 25 April; Army imposes curfew in Diyala and Anbar Governorates; Iraqi government bans 10 TV stations (incl. Al Jazeera) from broadcasting on 29 April; Karameh Border Crossing temporarily closed on 30 April;
Belligerents
Naqshbandi Army Intifada Ahrar al-Iraq; Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant	Iraqi Government Iraqi Army; Iraqi Police; Peshmerga; Sahwa militia
Commanders and leaders
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri; Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi	Nouri al-Maliki; Babaker Shawkat B. Zebari; Massoud Barzani; Ahmad Abu Risha
Strength
Naqshbandi Army: 1,500–5,000	Iraqi Army: ~300,000; Iraqi Police: ~300,000; Peshmerga: ~200,000; Sons of Iraq: 30,000 (June 2012)
Casualties and losses
	51 soldiers killed, 62+ injured; 38 policemen killed, 41+ injured; 6 Sahwa members killed, 1 injured
	111+ killed on 23 April (42 in Hawija); 86+ killed on 24 April; 96+ killed on 25 April; 38+ killed on 26 April; Total casualty toll (23 – 26 Apr):; 330+ killed, ~600 injured

The 2013 Hawija clashes relate to a series of violent attacks within Iraq, as part of the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests and Iraqi insurgency post-U.S. withdrawal. On 23 April, an army raid against a protest encampment in the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, led to dozens of civilian deaths and the involvement of several insurgent groups in organized action against the government, leading to fears of a return to a wide-scale Sunni–Shia conflict within the country. By 27 April, more than 300 people were reported killed and scores more injured in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011.

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