Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish President Masoud Barzani met today in Baghdad. The pair talked about the upcoming operation on Mosul, and Abadi suggested to Barzani that Kurdish forces resist using the operation to expand their territory, as they have elsewhere. They also discussed oil and economic disputes.
The number of people expected to be displaced by the fighting in Mosul is around 1.5 million, doubling the number of displaced in the Kurdish region.
A former Australian minister, Wyatt Roy, visited the front lines in northern Iraq. While there, his position came under fire.
At least 65 people were killed and seven more were wounded:
In Hawija, a civilian was flogged for having an illegal song on his phone. A woman stabbed a militant to death who was trying to kidnap her nine-year-old daughter. An airstrike left 14 militants dead, including a commander, in a tunnel.
Airstrikes in the Mosul area left at least 28 militants dead.
Five militants were killed in a failed attack at the front lines near Domez.
Shelling by Peshmerga forces in Nawaran killed three militants and wounded seven more.
Security forces killed nine militants in Ali Jassim.
In Baghdadi, an airstrike left two militants dead.
A militant commander was killed near the Mosul Dam.
In Baghdad, security forces killed a suicide bomber.
