U.S. Central Command is reporting a 37 percent rise in the number of civilian contractors hired to support U.S. and Coalition operations in Iraq over the last 12 months.
At least 66 people were killed or found dead, and two more were wounded:
A mass grave containing 52 security personal from the Badush prison was discovered.
Gunmen killed a militia leader and wounded a companion near his Hawsa home.
In Baghdad, gunmen killed three people, one of them a military conscript. A sticky bomb killed a man who owned a construction company.
Gunmen wounded a judge in Jbela.
Five militants were killed while trying to infiltrate villages in the Shirqat area.
Security forces in Mosul killed three militants.
Near Samarra, a suicide bomber was killed.
