Control of Terrain in Iraq

President Obama stated that the Mosul Dam was retaken and cleared by Iraqi forces with U.S. air support.

Iraqi Kurdish officials announced that the Peshmerga cleared ISIS from the Mosul Dam but added that ISIS rigged some buildings with explosives.

The sub-district of Jalula was reported to be taken by ISIS after launching a major assault that pushed the Peshmerga out of the area.

Peshmerga forces clashed heavily with ISIS in the area of Gwer, located 30 miles southwest of Arbil city.

Changes for August 7 update: ISIS gunmen deployed to the Ninewa Plains, an area that includes many villages that are historically home to a large Iraqi Christian population.

There were unconfirmed reports that ISIS took Mosul Dam yesterday. It is unlikely that the Peshmerga would surrender this critical piece of infrastructure, hence the deployment of Peshmerga reinforcements to the dam that was reported today.

On June 24, ISW assessed that the area of Udhaim was cleared by the ISF and Iraqi Shi’a militias. On July 28, however, the Defense Ministry announced the start of an operation that has thus far cleared three villages and remains ongoing. The operation appears to be prompted by an increasing number of clashes and IEDs emplaced in the city, which indicates a level of ISIS access to the area that challenges full ISF control.

ISW is placing a watch on Hit as an area that ISIS likely desires to control.

On July 23, ISIS took control of the Badush dam (under construction) and nearby facilities northwest of Mosul after Peshmerga forces withdrew from the area.

Daquq in Kirkuk province is home to the Imam Zain al-Abdin shrine and is a mixed area. On July 20, Iraqi Shi’a volunteers were reportedly flown in from the south in order to provide protection from possible ISIS advances in the area.