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Militants vow to march on Baghdad
06/12/20140
The advance into former insurgent strongholds that had largely been calm before the Americans withdrew less than three years ago is fuelling fears that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, struggling to hold onto power after indecisive elections, will be unable to stop the Islamic militants as they press closer to Baghdad.
Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group took control of much of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, sending an estimated half a million people fleeing from their homes.
As in Tikrit, the Sunni militants were able to move in after police and military forces abandoned their posts after relatively brief clashes.
The group, which has seized wide swathes of territory, aims to create an Islamic emirate spanning both sides of the Iraq-Syria border.
The capture of Mosul - along with the fall of Tikrit and the militants' earlier seizure of the western city of Fallujah - have undone hard-fought gains against insurgents in the years following the 2003 invasion by US-led forces.
The White House said the security situation has deteriorated over the past 24 hours and that the United States was "deeply concerned" about ISIL's continued aggression.
There were no reliable estimates of casualties or the number of insurgents involved, though several hundred gunmen were in Tikrit and more were fighting on the outskirts, according to Mizhar Fleih, the deputy head of the municipal council of nearby Samarra. An even larger number of militants would have been needed to secure Mosul, a much bigger city.
The militants gained entry to the Turkish consulate in Mosul and held captive 48 people, including diplomats, police, consulate employees and three children, according to an official in the office of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish officials believe the hostages are safe for now.
The White House said in a statement that Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Mr Erdogan and called for the safe and immediate return of the Turkish personnel and family members.
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06/12/20140
The advance into former insurgent strongholds that had largely been calm before the Americans withdrew less than three years ago is fuelling fears that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, struggling to hold onto power after indecisive elections, will be unable to stop the Islamic militants as they press closer to Baghdad.
Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group took control of much of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, sending an estimated half a million people fleeing from their homes.
As in Tikrit, the Sunni militants were able to move in after police and military forces abandoned their posts after relatively brief clashes.
The group, which has seized wide swathes of territory, aims to create an Islamic emirate spanning both sides of the Iraq-Syria border.
The capture of Mosul - along with the fall of Tikrit and the militants' earlier seizure of the western city of Fallujah - have undone hard-fought gains against insurgents in the years following the 2003 invasion by US-led forces.
The White House said the security situation has deteriorated over the past 24 hours and that the United States was "deeply concerned" about ISIL's continued aggression.
There were no reliable estimates of casualties or the number of insurgents involved, though several hundred gunmen were in Tikrit and more were fighting on the outskirts, according to Mizhar Fleih, the deputy head of the municipal council of nearby Samarra. An even larger number of militants would have been needed to secure Mosul, a much bigger city.
The militants gained entry to the Turkish consulate in Mosul and held captive 48 people, including diplomats, police, consulate employees and three children, according to an official in the office of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish officials believe the hostages are safe for now.
The White House said in a statement that Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Mr Erdogan and called for the safe and immediate return of the Turkish personnel and family members.
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