EghtesadOnline: Iraqi forces battled Islamic State militants in their stronghold of Mosul on Wednesday and took control of the last major road leading west from the city, before bomb blasts ripped through a wedding party near Tikrit , killing more than 20 people.

EghtesadOnline: Twelve people were killed on Saturday when militants attacked a police checkpoint north of Tikrit and then detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the city, Iraqi police and military sources said.