U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that the United States would send about 600 more troops to Iraq this year to support operations against the Islamic State in Mosul.
The dismissal of Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari could cost Iraq billions in international loans. Zebari is the person most associated with a deal that would help Iraq overcome a loss of revenue due to low oil prices. Parliament fired him last week after questioning him about government corruption. Zebari claims that former Prime Minister and current Vice President Nouri al-Maliki was behind the campaign to oust him.
Islamic State militants have lost all capability to obtain oil revenue in Iraq after losing control of a field near Kirkuk. The last field they have access to is near Qayara. However, they can’t transport oil away from it, so they have set the wells on fire instead.
At least 131 people were killed and 17 more were wounded:
An old video purports to show militants killing about 50 victims in Wilayat. That village was retaken in 2014.
In Baghdad’s Shula neighborhood, a bomb killed two people and wounded eight more.
Militants killed four men, in Hammam al-Alil, who were brothers to a Nineveh police chief.
In Mashada, a bomb killed one soldier and wounded four more.
A bomb in Madaen left one person dead and five wounded.
Security forces killed 33 militants in Hit Island.
A faulty explosives belt killed 16 militants at a meeting in Hawija.
Fifteen militants were killed in clashes in Tlul al-Baj after seven suicide bombers attacked security forces.
In Mosul, a veiled woman killed two militants.
