Attacks continued against Shi’ite pilgrims walking to Karbala for Arbaeen observances. Southern Baghdad seemed especially dangerous for the pilgrims who are often traveling on foot. Overall, at least six Iraqis were killed and 17 more were wounded across the country.
Joint Iraqi, Peshmerga, and U.S. forces will remain deployed in Kirkuk until after March elections. It is part of a larger operation, which began in January across the de facto border between Kurdish- and Arab-dominated parts of Iraq. Meanwhile, Arab and Turkmen politicians demanded international observers oversee March elections in the city.
U.S. forces killed three gunmen and wounded a fourth man during a clash south of Mosul in Shura.
In Baghdad, three Shi’ite pilgrims were wounded during a blast that occurred as they were walking through Mashtal. Four more pilgrims were wounded in a blast in Yarmouk. A third explosion targeting pilgrims wounded two in Saidiya. Two people were wounded when gunmen lobbed grenades at them in the Bayaa neighborhood. A bomb planted in a manhole on the Mashtal Highway exploded and wounded a worker. A roadside bomb wounded two in Zayouna. A blast near a restaurant in Mansour left no casualties.
In Mosul, a young woman was killed during a home invasion in the Yarmouk neighborhood. Federal police accidentally wounded a civilian during a clash with gunmen. Iraqi forces killed a suspect and arrested four others.
A man was killed in Fallujah, when a bomb he was handling detonated.
A civilian was wounded in an attack in Touz Khormato. Four suspects were arrested.
Tal Afar security forces arrested man wearing a suicide vest.
Eleven suspects were detained in Basra province.
Missan explosives experts have removed 2,300 landmines from border areas within the province. The landmines, which were leftovers from the Iraq-Iran War, rendered certain areas useful to oil workers or shepherds off limits.
A cache of ammunition was found in Kirkuk.
