At least 215 people were killed and 299 were wounded. Most of the casualties today were either civilian or military. In Anbar, officials accused militiamen of killing civilians, and in Mosul mortar fire accidentally released a poisonous cloud of chlorine gas.
Canadian troops exchanged gunfire with militants in northern Iraq again. Navy Capt. Paul Forget said the two incidents that occurred sometime last week. It marks the second and third times Coalition Forces were involved in firefights. The troops are technically only in Iraq as advisors. However, opposition parties are accusing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration of slowly dragging Canada into a combat.
In a rare admission of extensive military casualties, Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir al-Zaidi announced the deaths of 58 security forces and the wounding of 248 more during several days of fighting near Muqdadiya. Fifty militants were also killed.
The battles appear to have effectively removed the Islamic State presence from Diyala province. The general warned, however, that many bombs were left behind and it will take a significant amount of time and effort to remove them before civilians can return to their homes. One of these bombs killed two volunteer fighters and wounded three more.
Several Sunni official accused Shi’ite militias of having executed 70 Sunnis who were trying to flee the fighting in Barwana.
In Mosul, 30 civilians are receiving medical care after a mortal shell struck a water treatment plant and released chlorine gas into the atmosphere.
A blast targeting a relief agency in Abu Ghraib left six dead and eight wounded, including children.
In Baghdad, a blast killed one person and wounded five more. A dumped body was found. No casualties were reported after shots hit an Emirati passenger plane arriving in at the airport.
Gunmen in Taji killed a civilian.
A dumped body was found in Husseiniya.
In Iskandariya, a construction worker was shot dead.
Near Haditha, 22 militants were killed.
Two militants were killed and five were wounded in Falluja.
