The U.S. military had around 18,000 troops in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan at the end of last year. The official numbers have gone up in all three countries and now total about 26,000.
Operation Inherent Resolve forces have carried out more than 28,000 air and artillery strikes between August of 2014 and October, backing fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Power has shifted again in one of Iraq's most ancient and pivotal cities — Kirkuk. Kurds have recently been on top there but now Arab leaders are in charge and residents are tense as they look ahead.
Thousands of Iraqi children lost one or both parents during fighting in Mosul. "They are sad and isolated. Most of the time, they have few friends and they don't trust anyone," says a social worker.
Many foreign ISIS families are in the process of being moved to Baghdad as Iraq works to persuade countries like Russia and Turkey, to take back foreign wives and children of ISIS fighters.
The German Foreign Ministry is trying to negotiate the return of German children who ended up with ISIS through no fault of their own. Some of the children were taken to Iraq and Syria by their German parents, while others were born there.
Civilians killed by coalition airstrikes in northern Iraq have been vastly underestimated by the U.S. military, according to an investigation by The New York Times Magazine. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to the report's co-author Azmat Khan about the project.
Rescue workers in Iran are trying to dig out survivors from the rubble after a major earthquake struck along its border with Iraq yesterday. Hundreds are dead, and thousands are injured and in need of shelter.