Security forces have launched a significant operation against Rutba. The city, which lies on a strategically important highway leading to Jordan, is poorly defended and could be easily recaptured.
In Mosul, militants demolished a 7th Century B.C. palace built by Assyrian King Sennacherib.
Former Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi was removed from Interpol’s red notice, which basically works as an international arrest notice. Hashemi had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in absentia during Nouri al-Maliki’s tenure as prime minister, but Interpol’s investigative committe has found some of the evidence questionable.
At least 70 were killed and 32 were wounded:
In Mosul, militants stoned 21 people to death, including one woman.
A rocket attack on Khalidiya killed five people and wounded 15 more.
Three Peshmerga and a militia officer were executed in Bashiqa.
In Baghdad, two people were killed and nine were wounded when a bomb exploded near a garage in Jisr Diyala. A blast at a market in Shabb killed two people and wounded eight more.
Militiamen killed 25 militants during operation in the Euphrates River basin near Haditha.
Security forces killed seven militants in Baghdadi.
Strikes on Awsaja killed four militants.
