At least 151 people were killed and 60 were wounded, as U.S. airstrikes continued. Most of the dead were militants. Several bombs wounded a number of civilians.
Politics:
U.S. President Barack Obama said that airstrikes have already accomplished their job at stunting the Islamic State’s advance towards Kurdistan. Humanitarian airdrops will continue, but the president called helping Iraq "a long-term project." Repeated airstrikes may be necessary for several months, he admitted. Analysts are more critical of the airstrikes, though, and they believe the operation lacks a real strategy.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over one million Iraqis are now internally displaced from their homes. Over 50 percent of them left their homes since the June invasion of the Islamic State.
In an extraordinary move, Baghdad sentto Arbil a C-140 full of small arms ammunition for use by Peshmerga forces. Baghdad and the United States have kept the Kurds in a weakened position to ensure that Iraq stays united. The rapid advance by the Islamic State has made that rigid stance unsustainable.
Fighting:
U.S. warplanes conducted at least four airstrikes near Sinjar today after observing militants firing indiscriminately at Yazidis. Meanwhile, militants began to regroup at locations bombed yesterday. Outside of Kalak, at least 13 militants were killed in a strike.
Militants kidnapped 150 families, mostly women and children, trying to reach Sinjar Mountain.
In Baghdad, gunmen wounded a major general. A bomb wounded four people. Three people were wounded in a sticky bomb explosion.
An airstrike in Saidiya killed 28 militants.
A U.S. airstrike near Mosul killed 15 militants and wounded seven more.
In Jurf al-Sakhar, four volunteers were killed during a clash.
A grenade tossed at a wedding in Basra wounded 20 people, many of them critically. The bodies of a security guard and two men from Baghdad were found.
Four bombs exploded in Kirkuk. Two of them left 11 people with injuries.
Twenty-five militants were killed in Ana.
In Tikrit, 22 militants were killed.
Clashes in Khor Seebad left 12 militants dead and two wounded.
Peshmerga forces killed 13 militants near Makhmour.
Eight militants killed and 12 more were wounded during clashes with police and tribal fighters in Duluiya.
Three militants were killed at Alton Cobri.
In Haditha, an airstrike killed three militant leaders.
Airstrikes in Garma killed many militants, including a leader.
Airstrikes killed many militants, including an emir, in Baiji, Suleiman Bek, and Yenkejah. More were killed in Haditha.
