A recent surge in bombings continued in Baghdad late on Wednesday, but battles with the Islamic State militants left the most casualties. At least 282 were killed there and elsewhere across Iraq. Another 116 were wounded.
The Blackwater security contractors involved in a mass shooting of Iraqi civilians in 2007 were found guilty of multiple charges in a U.S. court. One guard was convicted of murder, while the other three were found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Overall, seventeen Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded in the shooting, but the trial focused only on 31 victims. Blackwater has since changed its name twice, first to Xe services, then to Academi.
In Baghdad, an evening bombing in the Karrada district left five dead and 28 wounded. Security forces killed three militants.
Nine people were killed and 37 were wounded in a blast in Sadr City.
Security forces fought off hundreds of militants in Amiriyat al-Falluja. At least 32 of them were killed. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up. Three security personnel were killed and nine were wounded. The vice chairman of Anbar’s provincial council complained about the weak air support received from the Iraqi government. He demanded to know why there was no coalition air support at all.
Battles were also reported in Hit, after a suicide bomber struck. A chief of police was executed.
In Husseiniya, a body was found.
Gunmen wounded a civilian and a volunteer fighter in Mansouriya.
In Jurf al-Sakhar, 19 militants were killed. A volunteer fighter was shot dead.
Coalition airstrikes killed 154 militants in Siniya.
Security forces killed 23 militants in Falluja.
Near the Mosul Dam, U.S. forces conducted airstrikes. Clashes left an emir, his aide and several other militants dead. At least 13 more were killed and 40 were wounded, according to one report.
In Samarra, 15 militants were killed.
Security forces killed a sniper who was located on top of a building in Muqdadiya.
A number of militants were killed in Dwayliba.
