Tikrit: Iraqi forces have tried multiple times to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown from ISIL, including renewed combat on the city's southern outskirts starting June 29. Troops and helicopter gunships hit ISIL positions in the Tikrit area, including the University of Tikrit campus in the city's north end.
Boukamal: This eastern Syrian town on the Iraq border was the site of clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which controls the Iraqi side of the crossing, and other rebel groups on June 30. ISIL has staked claim to territory on both sides of the border, declaring it a new medieval-style caliphate, or Islamic state.