Overall, at least 55 people were killed or found in a mass grave, and seven were wounded:
Four suicide bombers were killed at a checkpoint near Baiji. One of their vests was detonated, wounding six security personnel.
An attack on a Shirqat checkpoint left two Sunni tribal fighters dead.
A kidnapped man was found dead in Makhmour.
In Tarmiya, a bomb wounded a security member.
A mass grave in Halila village, near Mosul, gave up 48 bodies belonging to Islamic State militants.
Protest news:
Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on lawmakers to cease forming the new government until after protesters demands have been met. Sadr’s political bloc won May’s parliamentary elections; however, the formation of the new government has been delayed due to a manual recount of ballots.
So far, the massive protests have changed nothing, and the demonstrators have merely been stopped by security forces. Despite the threat of arrest or worse, people attempted to demonstrate at various locations on Thursday. Security forces opened fire at protesters in Najaf. Thousands of people were reportedly arrested at random in Wasit province. Widespread protests are expected on Friday.
