At least 95 people were killed and 22 were wounded in recent violence. Islamic State militants could be looting and demolishing a third ancient city in northern Iraq.
Canadian and Kurdish officials are giving conflicting accounts of the last moments of a Canadian soldier killed by friendly fire on Friday.
General Martin Dempsey explained during an interview on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that escalating the bombing raids or putting American troops on the ground in Iraq could be playing into the Islamic State militants’ hands. He urged “strategic patience” instead.
After the probable losses of Nimrud and Hatra, Iraq is asking the Coalition for air support to guard antiquities. At the very least, the Iraqis believe that air forces could have monitored the situation better. A third Iraqi site, Khorsabad, may also be in severe danger.
In Mosul, medical sources reported that hundreds of dead or wounded militants have been streaming into town from the Tikrit area. The militant wali was killed in an airstrike.
Security forces have reached the center of Dour but are engaged in difficult battles in the western sections of town. Many militants were killed as forces moved towards Tikrit itself.
Parts of Abu Ajil were reclaimed. The militiamen say this particular town is home to civilians who were involved in a massacre at nearby Camp Speicher last summer. Many of the residents fear that the militiamen will take their anger out on them, as they are accused of doing in other parts of Iraq.
Security forces report that militants in Alam are burning the bodies of their men in order to prevent identification.
In Baghdad, four people were killed by a blast in the Talibiya neighborhood. One person was killed and four were wounded by a blast in Jamila.
Three people were killed and 17 were wounded by a blast in Mahmoudiya.
A bomb killed three people in Husseiniya.
A bomb in Madaen killed two people.
An Iraqi commander was injured during battles in Albu Hayat.
Sixty militants were killed during an operation in Qaim.
Airstrikes killed 11 militant leaders in Qayara.
In Haditha, nine militants were killed.
A senior militant leader was killed in Zerga.
