Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi confirmed that 2,070 people have been killed since the Islamic State militants took over Nineveh province last year. The morgue in Mosul reported that most of the victims were killed during the last six months, but no clear timeline has been made available. Many of the condemned were found guilty of common crimes according to officials at the morgue. Authorities there also said that several bodies were delivered today, but these belong to security members and journalist. Earlier this week, a spokesman from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party, Giyas Surja, first announced the killings but said most of the victims were government employees.
As protests continued across Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani demanded the Iraqi government do more to fight corruption. The protests, which occur every summer, are fueled by power and water cuts. The demonstrators blame malfeasance for the slow rebuilding of needed infrastructure.
Members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) refuse to withdraw from Iraqi Kurdistan, as requested by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, before their guerilla war with Turkey is over. Their unwanted presence in Iraq has led Turkey into staging attacks on the group in recent days.
At least 109 were killed and 61 were wounded:
Coalition planes mistakenly killed 15 militiamen, including a commander, during a strike near Tikrit.
In Tuz, gunmen killed a municipal employee. In a separate shooting a security member was killed and his brother was wounded.
In Mosul, a doctor and his wife were executed. Four militants were killed in an airstrike.
A tribal elder was executed, near Mosul, in Baaj.
A blast wounded two people in Madaen.
Airstrikes in Husayba, Albu Alowan, and Malaha left 52 militants dead and 58 wounded.
In Haditha, 11 militants were killed.
Nine militants were killed in Garma.
Eight militants were killed in Ramadi.
In Khalidiya, five militants were killed.
An airstrike killed several terrorists in Baiji.
