The Iraqi government declared that the Islamic State militants now control only 14 percent of the Iraqi territory, down from a high of 40 percent in 2014. That represents a 65 percent loss of its former territory. Last month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that ISIS/Daesh had lost only 44 percent.
Turkish airstrikes killed several Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) guerillas in northern Iraq.
In Sinjar, an offshoot of the P.K.K. is working with Arab tribal fighters despite the complicated politics of the region. The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and Abdulkhaleq al-Jarba have a common enemy in Daesh even if they do not share a common language. However, some Yazidi civilians remain displaced due to the presence of the guerilla group.
Peshmerga and Hashd al-Shaabi forces may be working together in Tuz Khormato, where the rival groups have clashed in the past. Instead of fighting, they now patrol together to keep the peace.
Although Washington has made it clear, it does not want the responsibility of detaining Daesh prisoners, in the end the task may still fall to the U.S. government if only to avoid potential war crimes.
At least 188 were killed, and 28 were wounded:
A car bomb that exploded in a busy marketplace in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City left 84 dead and 87 wounded.
In Baghdad, a suicide car bomber exploded his cargo at a police checkpoint in Shi’ite Kadhimiya, killing 17 and wounding 43 more. Another suicide car bomber killed 12 people and wounded 31 at a checkpoint in the Sunni neighborhood of Jamia. These two bombings occurred almost simultaneously several hours after the Sadr City blast. Daesh claimed responsibility for all three bombings.
Shelling on Buhriz left two civilians dead and three wounded.
A roadside bomb wounded two people in a taxi in Jizaniy.
In Hit, an airstrike killed 20 militants.
Seventeen militants were killed in airstrikes near Hawija.
Security forces killed 10 militants in Subaihat.
Nine militants were killed in the Makhoul Mountains.
Strikes on Halabsa and Falahat left eight militants dead.
Peshmerga forces killed seven militants near Kirkuk.
