The operations took place in Mosul, Tarmiya, Bi'aj, Baiji and the Balad area.

CNN: Iraq goes after Shiite militants near Iran

North of Baghdad, two separate roadside bombs killed an Iraqi soldier and a civilian Saturday in the city of Baiji, in Salaheddin province, police told CNN.

CNN: Execution, body dumping site found south of Baghdad

The convoy was heading from Baiji -- the site of Iraq's largest oil refinery -- to Ramadi, in Iraq's volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad, the police official said.

CNN: U.S. troops clash with al-Sadr's Mehdi Army

Baiji is 120 miles (190 km) north of Baghdad.

CNN: Deadly blast hits Iraq peace talks

Earlier this year the baiji or Yangtse River Dolphin was declared probably extinct, and the Critically Endangered vaquita (Phocoena sinus) - another species restricted to a small, specific habitat - will follow suit without swift action, conservationists believe.

BBC: Finance woes put porpoise at risk