In Fallujah, fighting has subsided in order to clear booby-traps laid out by Islamic State militants. Shelling, however, continues. The United Nations has asked both sides to allow civilians to leave the city, but it is unlikely that the militants will want to give up their human shields.
Most of nearby Garma was cleared of militants on Monday. Some pockets of resistance remain on the outskirts of town, but the operation was successful enough to safely begin bomb-dismantling operations in the town. The highway to Baghdad was also reopened to traffic. Garma lies east of Falluja, not far from Baghdad’s western suburbs and was likely a launching point for attacks on the capital.
At least 66 people were killed and 13 were wounded:
Militants executed 12 people in Mosul.
In Baghdad, a bomb killed two people and wounded six more.
One person was killed and seven were wounded in a Mahmoudiya bombing.
In Lahib, 13 militants were killed during its recapture.
Peshmerga forces killed 12 militants at the Makhmour front lines.
Ten militants were killed during the liberation of Abbasian, Albu Awda and Haswahm.
Airstrikes killed eight militants at a weapons factory in Falluja.
In Garma, six militants were killed. A female sniper was also killed.
A militant leader was killed in Dawaya.
