Iraqi security forces paraded through Baghdad on Thursday to celebrate victories over the Islamic State jihadist group, but an unannounced rehearsal two days earlier put a damper on the festivities.
A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a Sunni mosque near Baghdad where worshippers were gathered for prayers, killing at least nine people, officials said on Tuesday.
Iraqi forces recaptured the last remaining district held by Islamic State militants in the city of Fallujah on Sunday and the general commanding the operation declared the battle complete.
Iraqi forces hunted militant fighters in their last Fallujah redoubts yesterday as tens of thousands of displaced civilians massed in overcrowded camps around the city.
US-backed Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants in Fallujah are advancing towards militant strongholds
Fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah has displaced at least 30,000 people in three days, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Sunday, warning that a humanitarian disaster was unfolding.
Iraqi forces opened a second front on Saturday in preparation for an assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, a day after government troops declared victory over the militants in Fallujah.
Iraqi forces on Friday entered the centre of Fallujah, the Iraqi city longest held by Islamic State, nearly four weeks after the start of a U.S.-backed offensive that cleared out the tens of thousands of residents still there.
Iraqi forces recaptured the municipal building in Fallujah from Islamic State militants, the military said, nearly four weeks after the start of a US-backed offensive to retake the city.
Iraqi elite forces battled Islamic State group jihadists on Thursday in their bastion of Fallujah, where an aid group says nearly four weeks of fighting have ensnared civilians in a humanitarian disaster.
A photographer employed by Iraq's elite interior ministry forces was killed Wednesday by a mortar round during fighting in the jihadist bastion of Fallujah, officers said.
The Islamic State group battled Iraqi forces and held civilians hostage Wednesday to defend its bastion of Fallujah, where three weeks of fighting has forced tens of thousands from their homes.
