Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces prepare to attack ISIL positions in the village of Tob Zawa, outside Mosul, on October 24, 2016. Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo
Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces prepare to attack ISIL positions in the village of Tob Zawa, outside Mosul, on October 24, 2016. Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo
ISIL steps up attacks across Iraq to relieve pressure on Mosul
In a series of counter-attacks on far-flung targets across the country since Friday, the extremists have hit Kirkuk, the north’s main oil city, the town of Rutba that controls the road from Baghdad to Jordan and Syria, and Sinjar, a region west of Mosul inhabited by the persecuted Yazidi minority.