The War Against The Islamic War In Iraq -- News Updates July 31, 2017

RUDAW: Iraqi officials foil ISIS plan to attack home of prominent Shiite cleric

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi intelligence officials say they have foiled an attempt by ISIS to attack the home of Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Two officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they foiled an attempt by ISIS to carry out a series of suicide attacks in Karbala and Najaf where the home of Sistani is located, as well as shrines which are revered by the Shiite community, The Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Sistani has been a leader of Shiite opposition to ISIS in Iraq.

In June 2014, he called upon all able-bodied men within Iraq’s Shiite population to take up arms against ISIS militants and to defend Baghdad and other Shiite cities after the extremist group captured Mosul.

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The War Against The Islamic War In Iraq -- News Updates July 31, 2017

Iraqis Say They Foiled IS Plan to Attack Revered Shrines -- VOA
Iraqi general sees easy victory over exhausted IS fighters in Tal Afar. -- Reuters
Upcoming Tal Afar battle simpler than Mosul's: Top Iraqi general -- Press TV
'Helpless' medics in Mosul plead for help to treat city's injured -- Sky News
Booby-traps plague north Iraq -- Gulf Times
Bloody revenge stalks the ruins of Mosul -- The Herald Scotland
Iraq plans to shore up its ground forces with Russian T-90 tanks -- RUDAW
'Our work is not done': Canadian troops help secure Mosul as future battles loom -- Ottawa Metro
'We assumed everyone else was dead' - Mosul family rescued after being trapped under rubble for 21 days -- The Telegraph
Lost children are legacy of battle for Iraq's Mosul -- Business Insider/Reuters
'I got four Yazidi virgins as part of my Isil salary and had sex with a different one every night' -- The Telegraph.
Life after ISIL: Mosul musicians emerge from the shadows -- Al Jazeera
Iraqis in Mosul markets both fear and hope for the future -- AFP
Iraqi forces just retook Mosul from ISIS. These photos show what they found. -- VOX
Mosul yet to begin a long process of recovery -- Mamoon Alabbasi, UPI/The Arab Weekly