Kurds Attack Shi’ite Militiamen; 173 Killed in Iraq

Clashes between militias and Kurdish fighters were reported in Tuz Khormato, which is on the Salah ad-Din border with Kirkuk. The fighters may belong to a new Sunni group, Liberation Army, seeking to fight Iraqi forces which they claim have perpetrated human rights violations in the city.

MP Ahmed al-Askari, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council said that suddenly there is a heavier presence of U.S. troops at the K1 military base. They may have been deployed to reduce tensions in the province since Iraqi forces reclaimed disputed territories.

British Prime Minister Theresa May traveled to Baghdad and met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. As of September there are still about 600 British servicemembers in Iraq. She promised £50 million in aid.

At least 173 more people were killed or were found dead, and 10 were wounded:

Forty bodies were found in a Hit mass grave. All apparently belonged to the Albu Nimr tribe.

In Mosul, 14 bodies were recovered. An explosion at booby-trapped home injured three children.

Three militiamen were killed and five were wounded during a firefight with Kurdish fighters in Tuz Khormato. At least one fighter was killed.

Gunmen in Diwaniya killed one person and wounded another.

In Kirkuk, gunmen wounded a guard at a Turkmen media building.

The Turkish military said airstrikes targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (P.K.K.) guerrillas in northern Iraq left 80 guerrillas dead.

Airstrikes left 27 militants dead in Wadi Horan.

Seven militants were killed in Bashir.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.