U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in Baghdad for previously unannounced talks concerning operations in Mosul. He also traveled to Erbil to meet with Kurdish leaders and Peshmerga fighters.
The minister of migration, Darbaz Mohammed, said that over four million Iraqis have been displaced in the war against the Islamic State militants. The recent operations in Mosul alone have forced about 100,000 to flee their homes. About 1.5 million throughout Iraq have already returned home.
Security forces say they have made gains in eastern Mosul and only have 10 neighborhoods left to capture on that side of the Tigris River. Coalition forces bombed the last remaining bridge on the river to thwart movement by the militants into the east. Shi’ite forces captured two villages near Tal Afar. The U.S. military estimates that about 2,000 militants have been killed or severely wounded during the siege. Also, the Iraqi military denied that Coalition airstrikes killed scores of security personnel in Mosul.
At least 47 were killed and 27 were wounded:
Fifteen decomposed bodies were found in a well in Shura.
In Mosul, militants killed a family of seven for not handing over their home. A sniper killed a Kurdish soldier.
In Fallujah, two suicide carbombers left eight dead and at least 20 wounded. One of the bombings occurred in the city’s center, while the other occurred at a checkpoint in a western area of Fallujah.
A bomb in Taji left two dead and six wounded.
Mortars fired on a motorcade near Ganous wounded a commander and killed a bodyguard.
Human remains were found in Hammam al-Alil. They are believed to have been Daesh victims.
Ten militants were killed in an airstrike in the Daquq region.
In Zuwiya, a strike killed at least one militant.
