Videos released by the Islamic State militants last year showed them blowing up important monuments including a ziggurat in the ancient city of Nimrud. A cursory examination of the ruins at Nimrud shows extensive if not total destruction.
The United Nations refugee agency is calling on the Iraqi government to issue birth certificates for children born during the Islamic State occupation. Otherwise, the children will remain stateless and lose many of their rights.
Security forces are engaged in about a third of the eastern part of Mosul, where civilians are clamoring for food and cigarettes and waiting for medical attention. There are reports of civilians reselling government aid at inflated prices. The forces are operating in Aden, Baker, Dahabiyah Intisar, Jadidat, Khadraa, Mufti, Salam, and Younis al-Sab’awi, among others.
The villages of Abbas, Bo Youssef, and Moshairiqa were captured, as were Medhali and Tel Om Mahyour.
Shi’ite militiamen advanced closer to Tal Afar.
At least 270 people were killed and 75 were wounded:
In Mosul, shelling on Qadisiya killed 63 civilians, while 21 civilians were executed for collaborating with security forces; however, their bodies were not turned over to the morgue. Shelling left seven civilians wounded in Samah. Three civilians were killed and seven were wounded fighting against militants in the Salam district. A soldier was wounded in an attack on Qadisiya that left 20 militants dead. Authorities report that 59 suicide bombs were destroyed in airstrikes; it is unclear if the bombs were detached from their bombers. An airstrike on Baker neighborhood left 49 militants dead.
Bombs in Baghdad killed 14 and wounded 50 more.
A shooting at a Husseiniya march in Baquba left three dead, including a security member, and three wounded, including a civilian.
A sniper killed a Peshmerga soldier in Daquq.
In Qayara, seven civilians were wounded in a chemical attack. One militant was executed after surrendering. The bodies of five others were mutilated.
Security forces killed 30 militants in the Abbas area.
Airstrikes killed two militant leaders in Hawija.
