At least 164 people were killed or found dead today. A newly discovered mass grave in northern Iraq yielded two dozen bodies. Another 89 were wounded.
Also, the Kurds seem willing to try to give a unified Iraq once last chance before they opt for full independence.
Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako blamed U.S. policies for the chaos in Iraq. According to Sako, half the Christians in Iraq have been forced to flee since the U.S. invasion failed to deliver the promises of safety and democracy.
Fifty residents were kidnapped in Tal Ali, perhaps in retaliation for burning an ISIS/DAASH flag, along with other possessions the militants left behind, after militants fled the town yesterday. The village is part of Hawija.
Iraqi State Television reported the deaths of two senior Islamic State officials who were killed during airstrikes in Mosul. The deaths have not been independently confirmed. Another airstrike killed the head of the military council in Tal Afar. About 50 militants were reported killed in the Mosul strikes, so were four civilians. The militants executed 14 people.
Near Suleiman Bek, a mass grave gave up 24 bodies believed to belong to truck drivers who were kidnapped several months ago.
In Baghdad, a bombing killed 14 people in the Kadhimiya district wounded 30 more. A bomb killed nine and wounded 21 more in central Baghdad. In Sheikh Omar, 13 militants were killed.
Seventeen people were wounded when a bomb exploded outside Kirkuk liquor store.
A suicide bomber struck at an army location near Tikrit, where he killed seven soldiers and wounded 17 more.
A rocket killed three civilians at a mosque in Qadisiya.
In Yankja, militants killed two Peshmerga members and wounded four more.
Fourteen militants were killed in Hamidiya.
Tribal fighters killed six militants trying to reach Baiji from Haditha.
Airstrikes on militant locations in Yusufiya inflicted large losses.
In Albu Hassan, airstrikes killed many militants.
