A director at the office of Yezidi affairs, Khairi Bodani, believes the number of Yazidi orphaned by the Islamic State occupation has reached 359 children. Another 2,166 children have lost one parent. About 220 children have a parent who is missing. Separately, Friday’s clashes between Peshmerga Rojava forces and Sinjar Resistance Units forced the relocation of 300 Yazidi families.
President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, said on Sunday that he suspects the fall of Mosul will precipitate the splitting of Iraq into separate countries.
Although Iraq does not release casualty figures for security personnel, there are reports that 500 soldiers have been killed in west Mosul. Also reported are the deaths of 125 suicide bombers. Operations begin in western Mosul on February 19. They resumed today after a three-day hiatus due to weather.
At least 146 were killed and 18 more were wounded or sickened:
The remains of 20 Peshmerga were discovered in a mass grave in Daquq.
A bomb killed one person and wounded four more near a smithy in Abu Ghraib.
Two policemen were killed in Buhriz as they tried to defuse a bomb.
In Baghdad, a bomb wounded two people at a Shabb market.
In Mosul, sixteen civilians were killed and 10 were wounded either during shelling or in crossfire in Nabi Sheet. Five suicide bombers were killed. Airstrikes in western Mosul killed 40 militants. Airstrikes to the south killed 30 more.
Militiamen killed 15 militants in Tal Afar.
Twelve militants were killed in an operation in the Makhoul Mountains.
An airstrike on Sharqat killed three militants.
Two militants were killed and two were wounded as they attempted to booby-trap a house in Tal Afar.
Several militants were killed in Albu Hayat.
