At least 58 people were killed and 45 were wounded across Iraq on Wednesday. Bombers struck in Baghdad, again.
New details emerged concerning the liberation of a kidnapping victim in Baghdad on Monday. The victim, Sara Hamid Niran, is a Basra businesswoman who is the cousin of Rowsch Shaways, a Kurdish politician and former deputy prime minister of Iraq. The kidnappers had asked the family for a ransom of two billion Iraqi dinars ($1.66 million), but Niran escaped her captors through a window.
When police arrived to confront the kidnappers, they encountered a number of militiamen belonging to Asaib Ahl al-Haq. They demanded they return Niran or the police would be killed. A firefight ensued. Four policemen were wounded (two more than previously reported), but the number of militia casualties is unknown. Asaib Ahl al-Haq is ostensibly working with the Iraqi government to fight the Islamic State militants. Instead, they seem to be operating on their own terms.
The Pentagon has decided to investigate claims that Iraqi and American troops found chemical weapons in Iraq and the treatment of about 20 U.S. soldiers who were exposed to the chemicals.
In Baghdad, two bombs outside a Talibiya restaurant killed 12 people and wounded 35 more. A third bomb killed three and wounded eight more. Two people were killed in a blast in the Sheikh Omar neighborhood.Seven people were killed in southern Baghdad. Mortars fell on the Green Zone but no casualties were reported. A number of militants were killed when security forces destroyed their vehicle.
A roadside bomb in Hajaj killed six volunteers and wounded two more.
In Falluja, six civilians were executed.
Yazidi citizens killed seven militants. A U.N. official has categorized ISIS/DAASH attacks on Yazidis as "genocide."
In Qara Tapa, Peshmerga forces killed a militant official and two aides. Six militants were killed in an airstrike.
Five militants were killed during a clash in Ramadi.
A prominent militant was killed in Albu Tohma.
Airstrikes were reported in the Horan Valley and Qaim.
