More Yazidi Mass Graves; 264 Killed across Iraq

At least 264 were killed or found in mass graves, and 97 were wounded:

Yazidis returning to Sinjar may be looting Sunni homes and setting them on fire, according to eyewitnesses. Some Sunnis informed on their Yazidi neighbors in the days after Islamic State militants overran the town last year, and Yazidis are anxious for payback. Kurdish officials have denied any revenge attacks are taking place. Much of the city lies in ruins.

In Sinjar, at least two more mass graves have been discovered. One is thought to contain 24 victims, and the other as many as 60 people. 

A Peshmerga commander in Sinjar said that 10 members were killed and 20 were wounded in the current bomb-clearing operation. Separately, 15 suicide bombers killed 11 Peshmerga and wounded 32 more during attacks.

Militants executed 73 of their own in Mosul. The men were accused of deserting the fighting in Sinjar.

Witnesses say that Shi’ite militiamen are gathering in Saidiya with the intent to invade nearby Jalawla. After Daesh militants were chased from the two towns, tensions between the militiamen and Kurdish troops increased, but quickly subsided.

In Tuz Khormato, where similar conflict between militiamen and Peshmerga left over a dozen people dead in the last week, a sniper killed two civilians.

Militants executed 20 Peshmerga in Tal Afar.

Rocket fire in Amiriyat al-Falluja killed three policemen and wounded five more. Shelling also wounded 22 civilians.

In Baghdad, two people were killed and seven were wounded in a bomb blast. Another bomb killed one person and wounded eight more. A bomb killed two soldiers and wounded two more.

Two people were killed by a bomb in Mahmoudiya.

A suicide bomber in Mandali killed a militiaman and wounded a policeman.

The bullet-riddled body of a kidnapped civilian was found near Muqdadiya.

Clashes between Daesh and Naqshbandi militants left 14 dead in several villages near Mosul. The two militant groups usually work together.

Thirteen militants were killed in Khalidiya.

In Albu Faraj, security forces killed two suicide bombers before they reached their targets.

Three militants were killed in Husayba.

In Hardan, three suicide bombers were killed.

Two suicide bombers were killed in an airstrike in Jeraishi.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.