Iraqi families fleeing violence in the northern Nineveh province gather at a Kurdish checkpoint in Aski kalak, 40 kilometers West of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region, on June 10, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)
Iraqi Forces, Tribal Residents Regain Oil-rich Baiji from ISIL
Local Editor
Iraqi forces, aided by tribal residents, have regained control over oil-rich Baiji, the northern province of Kirkuk, from militants belonging to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Baiji is the site of a major oil refinery in Iraq’s Salaheddin Province which is Iraq's biggest, supplying oil products to most of the country's provinces.
The violence in Iraq’s neighboring Nineveh province has forced over half a million Iraqis to flee their homes.
“The ISIL’s capture of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, displaced over 500,000 people in and around the city,” the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday, adding that the violence “has resulted in a high number of casualties among civilians.”
Heavy fighting is underway in the regions where the terrorists have established their control, and Iraqi forces along with residents continue to resist the ISIL militants and plan a counter-attack.PM Nouri Al-Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency and urged the UN, European Union, and Arab League to help the country fight the terrorists.
Maliki made the call for a nationwide state of emergency in a televised news conference in which he said "Iraq is undergoing a difficult stage" and that insurgents had captured "vital areas in Mosul". He urged the public and government to unite "to confront this vicious attack, which will spare no Iraqi."
Source: Websites | 11-06-2014 - 14:20 Last updated 11-06-2014 - 14:20 |
ISIL Control Several Areas seize oil refinery in Iraq’s Kirkuk
Local Editor
The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) seized several areas in Iraq's Kirkuk and Salaheddin provinces on Tuesday, a police officer said, after the militants took control of a whole province to its west.ISIL militants overran the Hawijah, Zab, Riyadh and Abbasi areas west of the city of Kirkuk, and Rashad and Yankaja to its south, Colonel Ahmed Taha said.
The militants moved into Siniyah and Sulaiman Bek, both located north of Baghdad.
It came after ISIL from the same group seized control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and the surrounding province of Nineveh earlier on Tuesday.
Nineveh, long a militant stronghold and one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, shares a border with part of western Kirkuk province, which is located north of Baghdad.
International Condemnations
Iran has strongly condemned terrorist attack on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, saying the spread of terrorist moves in Iraq is a flagrant example of the “transnational threat” of terrorism.
"Jihadists" who have seized Iraq's second city of Mosul pose a threat to the entire region, the United States warned Tuesday, voicing deep concern about the "serious situation."
"It should be clear that ISIL is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concern Tuesday about the "jihadist" takeover of Iraq's second city of Mosul, calling on political leaders to unite in the face of threats.
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