Militants in a former al-Qaeda bastion in Diyala province were able to kill a dozen security personnel and bring down a helicopter during ongoing clashes. At least 21 Iraqis were killed and three more were wounded across the country.
Clashes that began yesterday in rural Hadid continued today, even forcing an army helicopter to make an emergency landing. At least 19 people were killed in ongoing fighting. Eleven were policemen, one was a soldier on the helicopter, and seven were militants. One helicopter passenger was wounded.
Hadid is just a few kilometers north of Baquba deep in territory that once belonged to militants during the height of sectarian warfare. The province is predominantly Sunni with pockets of Shi’ite residents and still subject to a great deal of sectarian tension.
Security forces killed a leading member of Ansar al-Islam during a raid in Kirkuk.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a policeman.
An I.E.D. wounded two policemen near Ramadi.
Falluja police detonated a car bomb in a controlled setting.
Police in Tikrit safely dismantled a car bomb.
