At least 181 people were killed and 14 were wounded in fresh violence. Most of the casualties occurred during fighting near Kirkuk.
Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari called on Iraq to weed out corruption in the armed forces. Part of that plan may come from the United States, where the new policy is to help Iraq rebuild a smaller, more effective fighting force.
Nine Peshmerga fighters were killed in an operation to maintain control of a ridge at Tel Ward that overlooks Kirkuk. The operation also left 150 militants dead. One of the Kurdish fighters killed was the son of the Socialist Party leader in Kurdistan.
Three people were killed and 11 were wounded in a double bombing in Madaen.
Gunmen killed a departmental director and wounded his driver in central Basra.
Several villages in the Hamrin Mountains region were liberated.
Dozens of militants were killed when several villages in the Qara Tapa area were retaken.
Twelve militants were killed in Baiji.
In Rawa, a wali and four aides were killed in an airstrike.
Unidentified gunmen killed a wali in Mosul.
