Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani announced that Iraqi Kurdistan will hold an independence referendum on September 25, which will include Kurds residing within the disputed areas of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Makhmour, and Sinjar. A “yes” vote will not automatically mean independence, but it may give the Kurds some leverage with Baghdad, which is against independence. Neighboring Iran, Syria and Turkey will likely oppose independence too, as it could provoke the large Kurdish populations in those countries.
At least 84 were killed and 20 were wounded:
In Mosul, 15 women were shot dead while trying to escape the Farouq neighborhood. A bomb killed 11 soldiers and wounded seven more at a home. Chemical weapons sickened 13 civilians. Security forces killed a suicide bomber. In Zanjili, 34 militants were killed. A prominent leader was killed west of the city.
Seventeen militants were killed in an airstrike on a Daesh court in Hawija.
Unknown gunmen killed five militants in Tal Afar.
