Victories against the Islamic State militants may be welcome by Iraqis as a whole, but the battles have not returned former ISIS/Daesh territory back to normal. Residents, even if they can go home, do not have access to services and infrastructure in their destroyed cities and villages.
At least 99 people were killed and three more wounded:
A Kurdish journalist was killed in Dohuk. He was found tortured and beaten and died later in the hospital. The journalist may have had ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.).
Gunmen killed an Iraqi governor’s nephew in Erbil. Sifuk Watban Al Sultan was the nephew of Nineveh governor Nowfal Al Aqoub.
In Mosul, militants executed five civilians.
Clashes in Jazirat al-Ramadi left one policeman dead and three wounded. Strikes left 10 militants dead.
At least 57 militants were killed during the liberation of four villages near Qayara. They include al-Bazajlah, Imam Gharbi, al-Mreir, and al-Tal’ah. Eight more militants were killed in the liberation of nearby Auajjba and Zhiliya.
Security forces killed 16 militants in Salah ad Din and Kirkuk provinces.
