Residents of the Samah district in Mosul fled for their lives, overwhelming soldiers and medics. A second bridge was destroyed in an airstrike, the second this week; this leaves only one working bridge connecting east and west Mosul. Anonymous sources say dozens of security forces have been killed or wounded in the fighting, but official figures have not been released.
Shi’ite militiamen say they completed the cordon around Mosul and Tal Afar when they reached Kurdish Peshmerga troops camped west of Mosul.
Among the villages recently liberated were Hawsalat, Qarat Tapa, Tawajina, and Yarghint. Other captured areas include Tel Al-Dhahab, Tel Al-Hasheem, Tel Nasser, Tel Niss, Tel Al-Samin, and Tel Wa’i.
At least 125 were killed and 133 were wounded:
Small-scale attacks across Baghdad left 31 dead and 103 wounded; Bayaa, Jamia, Mashtal, and Ur were among the neighborhoods affected, as were Shurta and Zaafaraniyah.
In Mosul, dozens were wounded including six soldiers in the Samah district; an infant girl died of her wounds; at least five others were killed and 24 were wounded. Snipers killed three doctors. A special forces soldier was killed. A Daesh information minister was killed. Six suicide bombers were killed. Sixteen militants were killed in clashes. At least 35 militants were killed when the tankers they were driving were targeted in airstrikes.
A mass grave containing 25 victims of the Speicher Massacre were found in the Tigris River near Kosour.
A preacher was shot dead in Erbil.
