U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq

After months of preparation and supported by the U.S.-led coalition's air power, the Iraqi army finally started its military operation to retake Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Oct. 17, 2016. Since then, the operation has maintained a slow but steady progress, reaching the Tigris River by Jan. 8.

Following the latest news about intensified preparations to launch an operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Mosul, it has stepped up its assaults in various parts of Iraq in recent weeks. Most recently last week, it carried out a suicide attack with an explosives-laden fuel tanker at the main checkpoint near Hillah, a Shia city 95 km south of Baghdad, killing at l

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