Updated at 8:10 p.m. EST on February 17, 2017
Human Rights Watch is accusing militiamen of looting, damaging, or destroying hundreds of homes in Ashwa, Khidir, and Qaraqosh between November of 2016 and February of 2016. The non-government organization believes the activities had no true military objective, and it is a claim that has been made against the militiamen in several other areas of Iraq. Not all the militiamen accused here are Shi’ites; the Christian Babylon Brigades are also suspected. The militias originally had been told not to operate in the Mosul theater and were given the task of liberating Hawija to placate them. Instead, the militias unilaterally chose to move towards Tal Afar, which is to the west of Mosul.
At least 91 were killed and 102 more were wounded:
In Baghdad, a powerful car bomb at a Bayaa auto dealership left 59 dead and at least 66 wounded. At least four other attacks were reported in the capital; those left eight dead and 30 wounded combined. Gunmen attacked the home of the head of the investment commission, where they wounded his son before fleeing.
An I.E.D. in Qasbet Bashir killed a civilian.
Two militiamen were wounded in a blast in Abu al-Jabal.
An attack on a checkpoint in al-Tala al-Oula left one militiaman wounded.
In Mosul, a Katyusha missile killed two girls and wounded two teachers at a school. Security forces killed a suicide bomber and arrested another who is only 13-years-old. Airstrikes killed five militants including an intelligence officer. A strike on a textiles factory killed 14 militants.
Security forces in Radwaniya killed a suicide bomber and arrested two more.
Ten of 15 kidnapped workers were liberated in Mandali.
