Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr criticized the Shi’ite militia groups for naming their Anbar operation with the clearly sectarian “Labaik ya Hussein.” He thinks it is inappropriate for an operation that is supposed to rescue their Sunni brothers.
The plight of Anbar refugees seems more tragic with each passing day. Those who have managed to enter Baghdad live in fear inside a number of mosques where they have taken refuge. Those who haven’t may have no choice but to return to the warzone.
At least 174 were killed and 41 were wounded:
At least 17 soldiers were killed when an unknown number of suicide bombers attacked their posts in the Falluja area.
Eleven policemen were killed and nine were wounded in a suicide bombing in Baiji.
A Kirkuk mosque’s imam was found dead. The body of a government employee was discovered separately.
Photos have surfaced of the execution of an Iraqi soldier in Falluja.
Security forces killed 32 militants in Samarra.
In Dujail, 17 militants were killed.
Seventeen militants were killed in Khorsabad.
Thirteen militants were killed in Harariat.
Near the Habaniya AFB, strikes killed 12 militants and wounded 16 more.
In Ishaqi, ten militants were killed.
Another ten were killed in Sinjar.
Eight militants were killed and 12 more were wounded in strikes in Khalidiya.
In Mosul, militants killed nine of their own.
Security forces killed six militants in Anbar province.
A car bomb in Hawija left four militants dead.
Three militants were killed and four more were wounded in the Thar Thar region.
Airstrikes in Badush killed a militant leader.
A militant war minister was killed in Salah ad Din.
