ISIL militants capture new areas in N. Iraq

BAGHDAD

Militants from the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have reportedly seized more areas in northern Iraq, one day after they had captured Mosul, the country's second largest city.

Officials in Suleiman Bek town in Saladin province said that scores of ISIL militants had poured in as police forces abandoned their posts.

Taleb al-Biati, a local official, told Anadolu Agency that an unspecified number of policemen were killed and injured in clashes with the militants near the road connecting Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Shalal Abdoul, police commander in the nearby Tuz Khormato town, also in Saladin, said that enforcements of Kurdish peshmerga forces were deployed to defend the town against any possible attack by ISIL gunmen.

A police source had told AA Tuesday that ISIL militants had advanced toward Tikrit, the provincial capital of Saladin.

"ISIL militants seized control of the municipal council of al-Shurqat town, 300km north of Baghdad, and several police buildings," policeman Omar al-Jabouri told AA.

Meanwhile, a security source in the adjacent province of Kirkuk, also in northern Iraq, said that unidentified gunmen had captured several government and security sites in the west of province.

"Security troops had abandoned their sites, allowing ISIL militants to advance into the province without fighting and capture the police and local administration buildings," the source, who asked not to be named, told AA Wednesday.

The head of Hawija town, around 70km southwest of Kirkuk, said it had fallen in the hands of ISIL militants.

"We left the town at night," Hussein al-Jabouri told AA.

"Police and army troops were manning the government buildings but then orders came to withdraw, which gave ISIL elements the chance to easily capture the town and even stage a parade in its streets," he added.

"Dozens of ISIL militants have raised their flags on the police and government buildings in the town," al-Jabouri said.

Other areas in western Kirkuk province were also captured by the militants, he added.

On Tuesday, ISIL militants seized control of Mosul, the provincial capital of Nineveh, after security forces had withdrawn from the city.

Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Tuesday that Iraq had been placed on "maximum alert" and called on parliament to declare a state of emergency.

Iraq has seen a marked uptick in violence in recent months, which the government blames on ISIL, whom it accuses of being linked to Al-Qaeda.

Iraq army withdraws from Tikrit: Official

Iraqi army troops withdrew from the northern city of Tikrit, the capital of Saladin province, after militants from the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) captured a number of nearby towns, a local police official said Wednesday.

"The army withdrew suddenly; only police and SWAT teams are present in the city," Cap.  Omar al-Jabouri told Anadolu Agency.

"Militant groups have not reached Tikrit yet and no disturbances have been reported in the city, although gunmen are in control of the nearby oil town of Baji," he said.

Al-Jabouri told AA on Tuesday that ISIL militants were advancing towards Tikrit after seizing control of the headquarters of the town of Al-Shurqat's municipal council, 300km north of Baghdad.

According to the policeman, ISIL militants have also captured a power plant and a military headquarters in Baji, 220km north of Baghdad.

The government is yet to comment on al-Jabouri's assertions.

The developments came after ISIL militants seized control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, among other areas of northern Iraq.

Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Tuesday that the country had been placed on "maximum alert" and called on parliament to declare a national state of emergency.

Iraq has seen a marked uptick in violence in recent months, which the government blames on the ISIL, accusing the group of having links with Al-Qaeda.

Militant group in Iraq controls Mosul, heads for Kirkuk

Local sources said Iraqi army members fled the region, leaving their heavy weapons behind. ISIL militants held victory parades and fired into the air after taking control of Mosul.

When the militants headed for Toz Khormato, in Selahaddin province, south of Kirkuk, a town that has a sizable population of Turkmen -- Turkic people of Central Asia, now living mainly in Turkmenistan, Iran and Afghanistan -- peshmerga, or armed Kurkish fighters from the autonomous Kurdish region of North Iraq, took control of the region to keep the ISIL militants out. 

But Toz Khormato governor Shellal Abdul, speaking to The Anadolu Agency, said the security situation in the town is worsening.

"Peshmerga forces will contribute to the security of the town," Abdul said.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was established in the early years of the Iraq War, and it pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004. It is now operating in Syria, as well. In February 2014, al-Qaeda cut off all ties to ISIL.

www.aa.com.tr/en