Displaced Civilians Return to Abu Ghraib; 98 Killed in Iraq

About 200 families returned home to the Anaz region of Abu Ghraib after being displaced for three years. The delay was caused by the slow removal of explosives.

Seven anti-corruption activists were kidnapped from the Baghdad home.

Having learned an Islamic State tactic where snipers draw air strikes to buildings full of civilians, the Iraqi military and U.S. advisers are now holding back on calling in strikes to avoid further civilian losses.

At least 98 were killed in recent violence:

Two policemen were killed when a bomb they were transporting blew up near Ramadi.

A policeman was shot to death in Baquba.

A sticky bomb killed a colonel in Kanaan last week.

Several tribal fighters were wounded in an attack on Sherwin.

Forty militants were killed during an attempt to break through security lines near Tal Afar.

In Mosul, 16 militants were killed in clashes. An airstrike killed 10 militants in a convoy south of town. Five militants were killed by their own drone bomb at the Nouri Mosque. An airstrike killed a high-ranking official.

Operations in Haditha left 20 militants dead.

Militants executed two of their own in Qaim for abandoning the battlefield.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.