U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Iraq on Thursday to meet with political leaders and assess the situation with the Islamic State militants.
The U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, warned that about a quarter of Iraq’s population are in need of urgent assistance.
The first U.S.-trained Iraqi troops have been deployed to fight the Islamic State militants in Ramadi. About 500 Sunni tribal fighters will be joining the 3,000 soldiers already positioned in the area.
At least 106 people were killed and three others were wounded:
In Mosul, an imam was beheaded. Nine civilians were also beheaded. An airstrike killed three militant commanders and seven more militants. Unidentified gunmen killed 11 militants.
An I.E.D. in Tuz killed a civilian and wounded three more.
In Ramadi, five militants were killed. Many militants were killed during strikes on Anbar University. Twenty-five militants were killed in other operations.
Seventeen militants were killed in an airstrike in Garma.
In Baiji, security forces killed 17 militants.
Five militants were killed near Samarra.
In Husayba, five militants were killed.
