Anonymous sources within the Iraqi and U.S. governments have revealed that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is talking with the Trump administration about retaining U.S. troops after the Islamic State militants are defeated. There are currently about 7,000 servicemembers in Iraq; however, not all of them are officially deployed there.
The number of civilians displaced by the fighting in Mosul has now crossed 600,000, according to Jasim Muhammed al-Jaf, a Minister of Displacement and Migration in Iraq.
At least 62 were killed and 15 were wounded in recent violence:
In Mosul, an airstrike killed 11 civilians. Mortars killed a student and wounded 12 others at a high school. Security forces killed four bombers and six militants, including a commander.
Gunmen wounded three Turkmen students who were riding in a car near Tuz Khormato.
Militants in Hawija executed 14 of their own for abandoning the fighting. Airstrikes killed 20 more.
The body of a woman who was a member of Daesh’s religious police was found in Tal Afar. She had been shot. Four militants were killed when they bomb they were working on blew up.
A group of young men in Zab killed a militant.
