Poor weather in Mosul forced strikes against the Islamic State militants to be curtailed. Fighting continued on the city streets, however. Due to the heavy presence of civilians that campaign has slowed as well. The estimated number of refugees who were able to escape the city reached 59,000, which is a small fraction of Mosul’s population. Aid from agencies such as the Red Crescent is arriving within the city limits, where those who have no means to flee remain.
The mayor of Hazar, Ali Ahmedi, warned that the town and neighboring Tal Abta are under siege. Over 5,000 civilians remain trapped there by ISIS/Daesh, with Shi’ite militiamen surrounding them. Ahmedi says they are in desperate need of food, water, and medical care.
Regardless of ethnicity or religion, residents of Bashiqa returned to greet old neighbors and to begin the clean-up process. They still cannot return permanently.
About 10,000 Mosul-area refugees who fled to Syria will be repatriated and transferred to camps in Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din provinces.
Despite assurances that troops would not see combat, Canadian special forces have engaged the enemy on several occasions in the Mosul conflict.
Shi’ite militiamen have handed control of 16 villages to Iraqi regular forces.
At least 181 people were killed and 77 were wounded:
A suicide bomber targeted a wedding in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, where he killed 17 people and wounded at least 30 others. The groom was reported among the dead.
In Mosul, militants executed 32 civilians. Scattered shelling left nine dead, including two soldiers, and 35 wounded. A suicide bomber killed a soldier and wounded three more in Tahrir. A sniper killed a soldier in Baker. A journalist was also wounded by sniper fire. In Nimrod, a bomb killed seven tribal fighters. Security forces killed 12 militants.
A bomb in Diriya killed two people and wounded eight more.
South of Mosul, airstrikes left 57 militants dead.
Security forces killed 18 militants near Hammam al-Alil.
Ten militants were killed in an airstrike on Tal Afar.
A failed attack on Rutba killed at least 10 militants.
An airstrike on Qaim killed a high-level militant.
Two suicide bombers were killed in Karbala.
