The Iraqi government has given residents of Ramadi three days to evacuate before heavy fighting begins. However, it may not be possible for civilians to escape the city. The Islamic State militants have been forcing them to remain as human shields.
Those behind the kidnapping of 26 Qatari hunters last week have issued a demand. They want Saudi Arabia to free Shi’ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who is on death row for protesting the government.
At least 109 were killed and 53 were wounded:
Two suicide bombers in Arola village killed 28 Peshmerga and wounded four more.
Militants killed nine members, including women and an elderly man, of a Shabak family who were accused of aiding the Peshmerga in Hamdaniya.
In Baghdad, a bomb killed one person and wounded seven more. A roadside bomb killed a militia patrolman and five others. Three civilians were wounded in a blast meant for a police patrol.
Two people were killed and six were wounded by a blast in Madaen.
A rocket attack in Samarra wounded a woman and a child; an airstrike killed the perpetrators. At least three militants were killed in this or a separate strike.
In Ramadi, 30 militants were killed, including a leader.
Seventeen militants were killed and 26 were wounded during airstrikes on Aiadhia village.
Fourteen militants were killed during strikes near Mosul.
Security forces killed a Daesh executioner and his companion during a secret mission to Shirqat.
