Muqdadiyah

Continuous violence has left at least 670 Iraqis dead in February, of whom about two-thirds were civilians, the United Nations said.

Backed by paramilitary forces and aerial support, Iraqi troops launched a new push on March 1 to retake a key area north of the capital, Baghdad, and dislodge Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants from the area, officials said.

Jihadist gunmen and bombers killed at least 12 people in a busy market area of Baghdad, while a double blast at a cafe north of the Iraqi capital claimed another 20 lives.

An attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and involving suicide explosions, gunfights and hostage-taking wreaked chaos in the eastern neighborhood of Baghdad al-Jadida.