'This is our football, it's made of skin #World Cup': After posting sickening beheading video of Iraqi policeman, ISIS boast of slaughtering 1,700 soldiers
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Image of officer's decapitated head tweeted with sickening message: 'This is our ball. It's made of skin #WorldCup'
- Battle lines drawn as Iraqi forces gather at base just 20 miles outside Baghdad after militants seize two more towns
- President Obama rules out sending troops back to Iraq but promises to review military options including air strikes
- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claims security forces have now started to clear several cities of 'the terrorists'
- More than 20 UK nationals thought to be trapped in territories where Islamists are carrying out summary executions
- Al Qaeda-inspired militants stage jubilant parade of American Humvee patrol cars seized from collapsing Iraqi army
- Masked fighters wave the black flag of the Islamic State and flash the 'V' sign while shouting 'towards Baghdad!'
- Insurgents have also captured two helicopters, 15 tanks and armoured cars that used to belong to U.S. military
- Iraq's refugee population has increased by almost 800,000 this year as the government struggles against rebels
- President Barack Obama weighs up possible airstrikes - but rules out putting U.S. soldiers back on the ground
- ISIS leader dismissed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as woefully incompetent, calling him 'underwear merchant'
By
Simon Tomlinson
and Amy White
Blood-thirsty jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, Iraqi soldiers and police officers - including 17 in one street alone - on their warpath to Baghdad, the UN said today.
As a shocking picture of the ISIS insurgency continues to develop, the Islamist group are posting barbaric videos online with the intent of showing the world they will stop at nothing to achieve their end game.
In one, which is too graphic to publish, fighters are seen knocking on the door of a Sunni police major in the dead of night.
When he answers, they blindfold and cuff him. Then they carve off his head with a knife in his own bedroom as sweetly lilting religious hymns are played over the top.
An image of the officer's decapitated head was tweeted with the sickening message: 'This is our ball. It is made of skin #WorldCup'. ISIS also claims to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers on their push for the capital.
Although this figure has not been verified, the UN today warned that hundreds of people are likely to have been killed by the fanatics since the uprising.
This evening, President Barack Obama ruled out sending troops back into combat in Iraq but promised to review military options - including air strikes.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS
Taking no prisoners: In this video, ISIS fighters are seen knocking on the door of a Sunni police major in the dead of night before blindfolding and handcuffing him
Crazed: Jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, soldiers and police officers including this police major after taking control of large swathes of Iraq
Grim: As the images emerged on Twitter, ISIS also claimed to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers on their push for the capital
Shock and awe: An ISIS propaganda video shows militants blindfolding a Sunni police major in his home before cutting off his head
Propaganda warfare: The aim of the video is to terrorise Sunnis in Iraq's army and police forces and deepen their already low morale
Barbaric: This picture (right) of the police officer's decapitated head resting on his legs was tweeted with the message: 'This is our ball. It is made of skin#WorldCup'
On the terror trail: The police officer was handcuffed at his home in the dead of night after answering the door to the Islamist fighters
President Obama said his national security team would soon provide him with a list of 'selective actions by our military' to help push back a terrorist horde marching through Iraq, but insisted the US 'will not be sending troops back into combat' there.
He also said he would be 'reviewing options in the days ahead,' in a hastily scheduled statement given on the South Lawn of the White House.
Current Secretary of State John Kerry said that 'given the gravity of the situation' he would 'anticipate timely decisions from the president regarding the challenge' in Iraq.
'We have already taken some immediate steps,' he said, 'including providing enhanced aerial surveillance support to assist the Iraqis in this fight. We have also ramped up shipments of military aid to Iraq since the beginning of the year.'
Tonight, Iraq's Prime Minister claimed his forces had started to clear cities of ‘terrorists’.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who travelled to Samarra today for a security meeting, said his forces had ‘began their work to clear all our dear cities from these terrorists,’.
However, he gave no further details of where or when the operations occurred.
The aim of ISIS is to terrorise Sunnis in Iraq's army and police forces and deepen their already low morale.
That
fear is one factor behind the stunning collapse of Iraqi security
forces. In most cases, police and soldiers simply ran, sometimes
shedding their uniforms and abandoned arsenals of heavy weapons.
In another video, also purportedly taken by ISIS militants, gunmen are seen carrying out indiscriminate drive-by shootings on motorists and pedestrians.
Armed with a machine-gun, the gang film themselves shooting cars off the road then move in to video close-ups of the victims' blood-stained bodies slumped in the seats. In another clip, they gun down a pedestrian.
The footage, which cannot be
independently verified, contains the same logo used in a video posted
earlier this week showing an Iraqi businessman being shot in the back of
the head.
The British
Foreign Office said it was 'very concerned' with the escalating violence
and was 'not going to take its eye off the ball'.
Ill-gotten gains: This tweeted picture apparently shows ISIS commander Skeikh Umar Al Shishani inspecting an American Humvee
Shocking: Footage reportedly taken by ISIS militants shows Islamist fighters randomly shooting pedestrians and motorists as they take over towns and cities in Iraq
Indiscriminate: A car flies off the road after the driver is shot dead by gunmen in video purportedly posted online by ISIS militants
Sickening: The gunmen film themselves shooting cars off the road then move in to video close-ups of the victims' blood-stained bodies slumped in the seats
Brutal: The footage, which cannot be independently verified, contains the same logo used in video posted earlier this week showing a businessman being shot in the head
More than 20 British nationals are thought to be trapped in rebel-held areas, although officials say there are no plans as yet to stage evacuations in the north or from Baghdad.
However, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain might offer assistance with counter-terrorism expertise to authorities in Iraq.
Speaking after talks on Iraq with US Secretary of State John Kerry in London, Mr Hague stressed that Britain has no intention of putting military boots on the ground in the country.
But he said that a team from the Department for International Development was now on the ground in northern Iraq to see what humanitarian help the UK can give.
He also made clear that Britain is also ready to advise the Baghdad administration on counter-terrorism efforts.
Meanwhile, John Kerry said: 'The bottom line is ISIS is a threat, not just to Iraq and to the entire region, but it is a threat to Europe, the United States, and other countries in the world, and obviously with the number of foreign fighters that have been assembled in Syria this remains a very significant issue.'
ISIS fighters are moving ever closer to the capital after capturing two towns in the eastern province of Diyala as security forces abandoned their posts.
Iraqi security forces, who have until now fled the insurgency, are gathering at a base just 20 miles outside Baghdad ready to protect the city as the threat of all-war loomed.
Security sources said the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the insurgents, as well as several other villages around the Himreen mountains, which have long been a hideout for militants.
U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colvill said the number of people killed after Sunni Islamist militants overran the city of Mosul earlier this week may run into the hundreds.
Marauders: Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant celebrate on American Humvees taken from Iraqi security forces along a street in city of Mosul
On the warpath to Baghdad: Jubilant ISIS militants stage a parade of American Humvee patrol cars seized from a collapsing Iraqi army as they head to capital
Unrelenting march: Security sources said the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the insurgents, as well as several other villages around the Himreen mountains
No resistance: The masked ISIS fighters waved the black flag of the Islamic State and flashed the 'V' sign while some shouted 'towards Baghdad'
BRITONS ARE JOINING ISIS 'IN THEIR HUNDREDS'
Security services are 'monitoring very closely' concerns that hundreds of British Muslims have signed up with extreme jihadist group ISIS and gone to fight in Iraq.
The Government believes more than 500 British citizens have left the UK to join rebel fighters in Syria, with many of them feared to have crossed the border to join the uprising in Iraq.
The ruthless ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) extremists control large areas of land in Syria and are now turning their attention to Iraq and particularly Baghdad, having already taken the cities of Mosul and Tikrit.
Meanwhile, British security experts are also looking at the possibility that home-grown extremists trained by the ultra-violent group may bring terror back to the UK.
One terror expert told MailOnline today: 'There is a fairly high chance that someone will attempt it.'
More than 500 British Muslims are believed to have already travelled to Syria to fight against President Assad, and it is feared many more will join them.
Many of them are now feared to have crossed the barely-existent border into Iraq with the ultra-violent ISIS militia.
He said four women had killed themselves after being raped, 16 Jordanians had been kidnapped, and prisoners released by the militants had been looking to exact revenge on those responsible for their incarceration.
'We've also had reports suggesting that the government forces have also committed excesses, in particular the shelling of civilian areas on 6 and 8 June,' he said. 'There are claims that up to 30 civilians may have been killed.'
Meanwhile, the UN said Iraq's refugee population has increased by almost 800,000 this year as the government struggles against rebels and Islamic militants, the United Nations says.
The UN's refugee agency said 300,000 people fled this week alone in Irbil and Duhok as Islamic militants seized control of large areas in northern Iraq.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said many of the refugees are arriving with little more than the clothes they wear and have no money and nowhere to go.
As they surged towards the capital, one faction from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant staged a jubilant parade of American Humvee patrol cars seized from the collapsing Iraqi army complete with a flypast in captured former U.S. helicopters.
ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani called on his fighters to stay focused on the task ahead, warning them: 'Do not let your egos fall prey to your recent military gains such as Humvees, helicopters, rifles and military equipment.'
In a sign of increasing concern, President Barack Obama abruptly changed course on Iraq last night, saying that he wouldn't 'rule out anything' as he searches for ways to help the ailing Iraqi army push back the terrorist horde.
'We do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold,' Mr Obama said in the Oval Office.
In a video released last night, masked ISIS fighters waved the black flag of the Islamic State and flashed the 'V' sign while some shouted 'towards Baghdad!' as they paraded in stolen Humvees.
This evening, President Obama ruled out sending troops back into combat in Iraq but promised to review military options - including air strikes
Barack Obama said his national security team will soon provide him with a list of 'selective actions by our military' to help push back a terrorist horde marching through Iraq, but insisted that the US 'will not be sending troops back into combat' there
The US President said he will be 'reviewing options in the days ahead,' in a hastily scheduled statement on the South Lawn of the White House
SADDAM'S DAUGHTER: 'I'M HAPPY WITH VICTORIES BY MY DAD'S MEN'
Saddam Hussein's oldest daughter says she is 'very happy' with the ISIS insurgency.
Raghad Saddam Hussein, pictured right, praised one of father's former aides, Izzat al Douri, who reportedly joined the Islamist militants in their takeover of Mosul.
He was reportedly linked to a group of former Iraqi army officers.
She said: 'I am very happy with the victories achieved by my father's men'.
Witnesses saw ISIS fly two helicopters over the parade, apparently the first time the militant group has obtained aircraft in years of waging insurgency on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier.
It was unclear who the pilots were, but Sunnis who served in the forces of Saddam Hussein have rallied to the insurgency.
Despite
vastly outnumbering the jihadists, government troops have melted away
in the face of the insurgents, allowing them to capture two helicopters,
15 tanks, weapons and several armoured cars that used to belong to the
American military.
U.S. officials said a $1billion package of military assistance and the sale of 36 F-16s to Iraq was being accelerated, but was unlikely to help in the short term.
This came as top U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin said about 25 employees working with the Iraqi air force as it prepared for the arrival of the jets were being evacuated from the Balad area in northern Iraq as a result of the violence.
In Jalawla, Kurdish peshmerga forces deployed more men to secure their political party offices before the insurgents arrived in the town. There were no confrontations between them.
The Iraqi army fired artillery at Saadiya and Jalawla from the nearby town of Muqdadiya, sending dozens of families fleeing towards Khaniqin near the Iranian border, security sources said.
Drive-by looting: Despite vastly outnumbering the jihadists, government troops have melted away in the face of the insurgents
Jubilant: ISIS fighters who do not recognise the region's modern frontiers have seized Mosul and Tikrit, Saddam's home town, and other towns north of Baghdad
Sabre-rattling: An Islamic militant issues a call to arms, saying: 'Declare Allah the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!' in a video released by ISIS
Trail of destruction: Militants of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant damage a patrol car of Iraq army in the city of Mosul
On the warpath to Baghdad: A graphic showing the town and cities captured by ISIS over the last few days
ABU DU'A: THE MAN WHO HAS BROUGHT IRAQ TO ITS KNEES (AFTER US RELEASED HIM FROM PRISON 5 YEARS AGO)
Wanted: Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
The United States once had Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in custody at a detention facility in Iraq, but president Barack Obama let him go, it has emerged.
Al Baghdadi, who also goes by the name Abu Du'a, was among the prisoners released in 2009 from the US's now-closed Camp Bucca near Umm Qasr in Iraq.
But now, five years later, he is the head of a group of ruthless extremists who are bearing down on Baghdad, burning down everything in their way and carrying out executions on Iraqi civilians, soldiers and police officers.
It is unclear why the US let the merciless al-Qaeda leader slip away, however, one theory proposed by The Telegraph is that al Baghadadi was granted amnesty along with thousands of other detainees because the US was preparing to pull out of Iraq.
The United States began withdrawing troops from Iraq in 2010, and Camp Bucca closed in 2011 along with the United States' other military facilities as President Obama declared that the War in Iraq had come to an end.
Another possible explanation is that al Baghadadi did not become a jihadist until after his release from Camp Bucca.
The US now has a $10 million warrant out for Baghdadi, who is accused of bombing a mosque in Baghdad in 2011 and killing former Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawl.
Al Baghadadi and his troops had already taken key cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq earlier this year and have conquered the Iraqi cities of Tikrit and Mosul within the last several days.
They are now on the war path to Iraq's capital city of Baghdad.
According to bitter Iraqi footsoldiers, their commanders slipped away in the night rather than mount a defence of the city.
ISIS overran the northern city of Mosul earlier this week and have since pressed south towards Baghdad in an onslaught against the Shi'ite-led government.
Mr Adnani also dismissed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as woefully incompetent, calling him an 'underwear merchant'.
'What have you done to your people, O foolish one. No-one is more foolish than you but those who accept you as the president and commander,' Adnani mocked him in a translated statement.
The Kurds, who run their own autonomous region in the north, have taken advantage of the chaos to expand their territory, taking control of the oil-rich of Kirkuk and other areas outside the formal boundary of their enclave.
Mr Obama said he was weighing up a range of options, including possible airstrikes, to tackle an insurgency by Islamic militants in Iraq - although officials have ruled out putting American soldiers back on the ground.
Iraq has faced resurgent violence since the US military withdrew in late 2011.
A sharp burst of violence this week led to the evacuation of Americans from a major air base in northern Iraq where the US had been training security forces.
'IRAQ INVASION WAS A COCK-UP WE WILL BE LIVING WITH FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS', SAYS BRITISH MAJOR-GENERAL
'Strategic error of gargantuan proportions': Major-General Julian Thompson has condemned the invasion of Iraq in 2003
A senior British military figure says the UK's 2003 invasion of Iraq was a 'cock up we will be living with for the next 50 years'.
Major-General Julian Thompson commanded Plymouth based 3 Commando Brigade during the 1982 Falklands War.
He blamed UK politicians for the 'complete mess' in Iraq and fears for the future.
He said: 'Iraq was a strategic error of gargantuan proportions. I was against us going in from the very beginning in 2003.
'I didn't say so at the time with the boys (3 Commando Brigade) going in, but it was wrong.
'It was not the right thing to do. This was not a military cock-up, it was a political cock up. And it is a cock up we will be living with for the next 50 years.
'Saddam Hussein was not a nice guy, but he kept the lid on extremism. He held the balance of power between the Iranians and the Arab World.
'People are far worse off now than they were when he was there. I don't care what Tony Blair says, these people are not better off.
'Blair is guilty of getting us into a position we shouldn't have got into.
'We will not go back in - at least I certainly hope not. We couldn't sort it out the first time, we'd just make it worse if we went back.
'Rather like a disease we need to rope it off do it doesn't affect us. We have to be cold blooded. Our security must come first.
'However sorry we may be for the people of Iraq, there is nothing we can do. We do not want to reinforce failure.'
Armed and dangerous: This video reportedly shows dozens of vehicles including several Police SUVs, large military trucks and at least two artillery weapons
Bringing out the big guns: The insurgents have apparently seized this long-range American artillery canon which they are towing towards Baghdad
GRAVES DESTROYED, NO WOMEN OUTSIDE AND 'UNBELIEVERS' MUST REPENT: ISIS IMPOSES STRICT SHARIA LAW IN CAPTURED TERRITORIES
In the swathe of seized regions across northern Iraq, ISIS has declared hardline Sharia law, publishing the following set of strict rules:
- People have tried secular rule - now it is time for an Islamic state
- Women should wear loose-fitting clothes and leave home only when necessary
- Shrines and graves should be destroyed
- Only flag allowed to be carried is the ISIS one
- Places have been opened for police and soldiers of the 'unbelievers' to repent
- Drugs, cigarettes or alcohol banned
- Tribal leaders must not become traitors by working with the government
- All Muslims to pray at the mosque at the correct time
- Money we have stolen from the government is for the public. Only the imam of mosques can spend it - thieves will have their hands cut off
- We are the soldiers of Islam and we have taken on the responsibility of re-establishing the caliphate
Translated by The Independent
Mr Obama, in his first comments on the deteriorating situation, said it was clear Iraq needed additional assistance from the US and the international community given the lightning gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.
'What we've seen over the last couple of days indicates Iraq’s going to need more help' from the United States and other nations, Obama said in the Oval Office.
He added that the U.S. has been working 'around the clock' to find appropriate ways to intervene.
Republican politicians pinned some of the blame for the escalating violence on Mr Obama's reluctance to re-engage in a conflict he long opposed.
For
more than a year, the Iraqi government has been pleading with the US
for additional help to combat the insurgency, which has been fuelled by
the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
Northern Iraq has become a way station for insurgents who routinely travel between the two countries and are spreading the Syrian war's violence.
Iraqi
leaders made a fresh request earlier this week, asking for a mix of
drones and manned aircraft that could be used for both surveillance and
active missions.
Officials said Mr Obama was considering those requests and was expected to decide on a course of action within a few days.
The US is already flying unmanned aircraft over Iraq for intelligence purposes, an official said.
Short
of airstrikes, the president could step up the flow of military
assistance to the beleaguered Iraqi government, increase training
exercises for the country's security forces and help boost Iraq's
intelligence capabilities.
The U.S. has been leery of its lethal aid falling into the hands of militants or being otherwise misused.
Spoils of war: Another video purportedly posted by ISIS appears to show a yard of armoured vehicles apparently seized from the Iraqi military
The yard, which has apparently been captured by ISIS militants, also contains patrols cars and trucks that appear to have been taken from Iraqi forces
An image posted on a militant Twitter account today appears to show a banner bearing a black flag used by the Al-Qaeda inspired lslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hanging from an overpass in Mosul, Iraq
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. is sending about 12 million dollars (£7.15 million) in humanitarian aid to help nearly a million Iraqis who have been forced from their homes by recent fighting.
Mr Obama huddled with his national security team to discuss the deteriorating security situation. US vice president Joe Biden called Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to underscore that while the US stands ready to help, it would be crucial for Iraq to come up with longer-term solutions to its internal political strife.
Nearly all American troops left Iraq in December 2011 after Washington and Baghdad failed to negotiate a security agreement that would have kept a limited number of U.S. forces in the country for a few more years at least.
Senator John McCain, a frequent White House critic, called for Mr Obama's entire national security team to resign. House Speaker John Boehner accused the president of 'taking a nap' while conditions worsened.
But Congress appears divided over how to respond, with some Republicans backing airstrikes and other figures from both parties suggesting that is the wrong approach.
There were no calls for putting American troops back on the ground in Iraq, and Mr Obama's advisers said the president had no desire to plunge the US back into a conflict there.
'The president is mindful that the United States has sacrificed a lot in Iraq and we need to not just be taking this all back on ourselves,' said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser.
'We need to come up with solutions that can enable the Iraqis to manage their internal security and their internal politics.'
The full horror of the jihadists’ savage victories in Iraq emerged yesterday as witnesses told of streets lined with decapitated soldiers and policemen.
U.S. MAY NOT BE GETTING INVOLVED YET BUT THEY'RE STILL PROFITING: MILITARY SELLS 38 F16 JETS TO IRAQ
The U.S. is accelerating its $1billion package of military assistance for Iraq in light of the ISIS insurgency.
This includes the sale of 36 F-16 jet fighters, but they are unlikely to make a difference in the short term.
Lockheed Martin presented the first of 36 F-16 jet fighters it has agreed to sell Baghdad to Iraqi officials in Fort Worth last week.
Three or four of the planes are expected to be flown to Iraq for delivery by the end of the year.
Blood-soaked
bodies and blazing vehicles were left in the wake of the Al
Qaeda-inspired ISIS fanatics as they pushed the frontline towards
Baghdad.
They boasted
about their triumphs in a propaganda video depicting appalling scenes
including a businessman being dragged from his car and executed at the
roadside with a pistol to the back of his head. The extent of the
carnage came as:
- Images
from captured cities such as Mosul and Tikrit showed deserted streets,
burnt out vehicles and discarded uniforms left by government troops
fleeing the brutal fanatics;
- ISIS
leaders urged their bloodthirsty followers to continue their march and
warned that battle would rage in Baghdad and in the holy city of
Karbala;
- Thousands of
residents in the capital answered a call to arms to repel the invaders
amid fears the government’s own troops were not up to the job;
- Aid groups warned of a new refugee crisis after half a million terrified Iraqis left their homes to escape the jihadists.
In the swathe of captured territory
across northern Iraq, ISIS declared hardline Sharia law, publishing
rules ordering women not to go outside ‘unless strictly necessary’,
banning alcohol and smoking, and forcing all residents to attend mosques
five times a day.
Up in arms: Members of Iraqi security forces chant slogans in Baghdad Sunni Islamist militants pressed towards the capital
IRAQ PLUNGES MIDDLE EAST INTO 'MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT' SINCE INVASION IN 2003
Turmoil in Iraq has plunged the Middle East into its 'most dangerous moment' since the invasion of the country in 2003, an expert said.
Professor Peter Neumann, of King's College London, said the recent surge by ISIS threatens to trigger a 'sectarian meltdown' that may spread into other neighbouring states.
Earlier this week, Isis militants took control of Iraq's second city Mosul and Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, raising the prospect that the Sunni group would attempt to march on capital Baghdad to settle scores with the Shi'ite-led government.
Professor Neumann said he expected the jihadist group's popularity among Sunni Iraqis to fade eventually but warned: 'How much damage can they do until that happens?
'I worry that in the meantime what we will see in Iraq is a sectarian meltdown, a huge confrontation between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds and that could spill into other countries.
'There is a risk that it will be even worse than what we saw about eight or nine years ago in Iraq, which was already pretty horrible.
'This is probably the most dangerous moment in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.'
BBC correspondent Paul Wood said one woman from
Mosul, Iraq’s second city, had spoken of seeing a ‘row of decapitated
soldiers and policemen’.
The
refugee woman told how the victims’ heads were placed in rows – a
trademark, trophy-style execution favoured by ISIS militants.
The
fanatics captured Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, by overrunning
an army base and rounding up hundreds of soldiers and police. Dozens of
members of a police special forces battalion were paraded on the back of
a truck in the city.
As
the balaclava-clad militants took Mosul and Tikrit, thousands of
Baghdad’s residents young and old queued at recruiting stations to form a
‘Dad’s army’ to defend the capital.
Trucks
carrying volunteers in uniform rumbled towards the frontlines to defend
the city, with many chanting slogans against the ISIS militants.
Meanwhile
the Iraqi air force carried out at least four bombing raids on
insurgent positions in and around Mosul. State television showed targets
exploding in black clouds.
Britons working in Baghdad’s Green Zone where most of the foreign embassies are based were on high alert. The lightning advance of ISIS has caused alarm in London, Washington and across the Middle East.
Despite
vastly outnumbering the jihadists, government troops have melted away
in the face of the insurgents, allowing them to capture two helicopters,
15 tanks, weapons and several armoured cars that used belonging to the
American military. They also seized £350million-worth of dinars by
robbing a bank in Mosul.
According to bitter Iraqi footsoldiers, their commanders slipped away in the night rather than mount a defence of the city.
Iraqi men clean an array of lethal weapons as they prepare to defend the Sadr City district in case of an attack by Sunni extremists in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad
Leading cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on men in Iraq today to prepare their weapons and take up arms against the offensive spearheaded by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
THE MAN WHO IS TRYING TO BRING IRAQ BACK FROM THE BRINK: TOP CLERIC CALLS ON MEN OF ALL AGES TO HELP DEFEND CAPITAL FROM ISIS
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqi men to take up arms against ISIS
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who called on Iraqi men today to take up arms against 'terrorists', is the country's top Shiite cleric and is revered by millions.
The reclusive Sistani enjoys the kind of following Iraq's Shiite politicians can only dream of, and his call to fight militants who seized swathes of the country this week could give a major boost to recruitment.
'Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists... should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose,' his representative announced on his behalf during today's prayers in the shrine city of Karbala.
'He who sacrifices for the cause of defending his country and his family and his honour will be a martyr,' he added.
The Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) and allied groups launched an offensive on Monday, taking all of one province and chunks of three more.
Security forces have failed to halt the drive, with some fleeing after throwing away their uniforms and abandoning their positions.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by announcing the government will arm and equip citizens who volunteer to fight, and thousands have turned out at recruitment centres to answer the call.
Sistani, born in the Iranian town of Arshad in 1930, started his religious studies at the age of five, and became a grand ayatollah in 1992.
Despite his huge following, he has generally stayed aloof of Iraqi politics, but has made rare but important interventions since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The elderly cleric repeatedly called for calm during Iraq's brutal sectarian conflict from 2006 to 2008 and threw his weight behind democratic elections.
In late 2003, he demanded that a convention of Iraqis draw up a new constitution and that a transitional government be directly elected by the people, a request the US-led occupation authority was only able to resist through UN mediation.
The following year, Sistani intervened again when an uprising against the US-led occupation by the Mahdi Army militia of anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr triggered fighting with US troops in the heart of the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.
He returned from medical treatment in London to a hero's welcome in Iraq, in time to stop a joint US-Iraqi force from launching a final assault on Sadr's forces who were cornered in the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.
A tireless proponent of elections since Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed in 2003, the ageing Sistani used his humble quarters in Najaf as a base to guide the country's Shiite majority to power through the ballot box.
After pressuring the US to expedite the path to democratic elections, the cleric was the guiding force behind the creation of a pan-Shiite coalition in Iraq's parliament.
And he has also used his standing among the country's Shiite Arab majority to urge voters to turn out in strength for parliamentary and provincial elections.
But Sistani's decision-making process remains a mystery and little is known about what really goes on in his spartan home in a heavily-guarded alley in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where he has remained a virtual recluse after years of house arrest during dictator Saddam Hussein's rule.
Profile produced by AFP.
Volunteers who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants, who have taken over Mosul and other Northern provinces, gesture from an army truck
One said: ‘Our leaders betrayed us. The commanders left the military behind. When we woke up, all the leaders had left.’
Last
night Barack Obama said America would help with ‘short-term immediate
actions… militarily’ to push back the insurgents, but ruled out sending
troops.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain would not get involved militarily because Iraq was now a democracy.
Iraqi
prime minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed: ‘We are not going to allow this
to carry on, regardless of the price. We are getting ready. We are
organising.’
As the
situation spiralled out of control, even Iran was said to have deployed
two battalions from its Revolutionary Guard to help the Iraqi government
retake Tikrit.
The
development was likely to enrage Washington, which has been steadfast in
its determination for Baghdad not to cosy up to Tehran.
But one senior unnamed official said today that Shi'te Muslim Iran is so alarmed by Sunni insurgent gains in Iraq that it may be willing to co-operate with Washington in helping Baghdad fight back.
It also emerged that members of Saddam’s old guard were joining the insurrection. Fighters loyal to his disbanded Baath Party were said to be actively supporting the rebels. ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham but has also been referenced as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces seize the control of Kirkuk where Iraqi army forces and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant clashed
Iraqi Kurds seized control of the oil city of Kirkuk today as the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse that has lost its control of the north
Peshmerga fighters, the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, swept into Kirkuk after the army abandoned its posts there, a peshmerga spokesman said
FINALLY THE KURDS GET THEIR JERUSALEM: HOW ISIS INVASION IS REDRAWING THE MAP OF IRAQ
Iraqi Kurds seized control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk today as the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse that has lost it control of the north.
Peshmerga fighters (pictured below), the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, swept into Kirkuk after the army abandoned its posts there, a peshmerga spokesman said.
'The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into the hands of peshmerga,' said Jabbar Yawar.
'No Iraqi army remains in Kirkuk now.'
Kurds have long dreamed of taking Kirkuk, a city with huge oil reserves just outside their autonomous region, which they regard as their historical capital.
The swift move by their highly organized security forces demonstrates how this week's sudden advance by fighters of the Al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has redrawn Iraq's map.
Kurds have been determined to return to Kirkuk after they were driven from the oil-rich city under Saddam Hussein's 'Arabisation' campaign - the settlement of tens of thousands of Arabs in Kirkuk during his three decades in power
The Iraqi government has control over the oil fields on the city's western fringe.
In May 2013, Kurdish fighters took up positions on the outskirts of Kirkuk after Iraqi security forces were redeployed to deal with Sunni militants elsewhere.
Today they made the final push after the army fled before an Islamist offensive nearby.
Its insurgency is the biggest threat to Iraq since US troops withdrew in 2011.
ISIS commanders issued chilling warnings to any police officers or soldiers to ‘repent or be killed’.
In a sinister video, the extremists urged followers to ‘march to Baghdad – we have a score to settle’. They also pledged to take the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
‘Continue
your march as the battle is not yet raging,’ a voice said to be that of
ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani says. ‘It will rage in Baghdad
and Karbala. So be ready for it. Put on your belts and get ready.’
But
taking Baghdad would be much tougher for ISIS than the towns where they
have triumphed so far. The United Nations Security Council met behind
closed doors last night to discuss the crisis.
Iraq’s
foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, speaking in London, insisted the
government had halted the rebel advance and even claimed insurgents were
‘on the run’.
But at
Baiji, near Kirkuk, insurgents surrounded Iraq’s largest refinery. And
the fighters have reached Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad.
About
a quarter of Mosul’s two million residents have fled. The flood of
terrified families escaping the fighting there was described as ‘one of
the largest and swiftest mass movements of people in the world in recent
memory’. Many have headed east into the autonomous region of Kurdistan.
Aid
groups fear a new refugee crisis. Neighbouring countries already
struggling to look after 2.8million refugees from the Syrian civil war
now face the prospect of a new influx of displaced people desperately
seeking a safe haven.
Meanwhile Iraqi Kurds seized control of the major northern oil city of Kirkuk after the central government's army abandoned its posts.The Kurds - a semi-autonomous ethnic group based in the north - have their own 250,000-strong military, but have not used them to engage ISIS.
Footage emerged yesterday evening from TIkrit, which appears to show a long line of captured men and boys, being forcibly marched down a highway in the city.
The minute-long video, uploaded to YouTube, showed a snaking column of men stretching the entire visible length of the stretch of road. A voice captured by the recording describes a great Islamic 'family' and later an 'army', suggesting a possible intention to recruit the captives.
Most
of the men and boys have both hands on their heads, while others - some
wearing head coverings and some bare-faced - move up and down the
column encouraging the march.
The startling developments raise the spectre of Iraq being carved up and divided into several states. Respected commentators have raised the prospect that, with Kurdish forces holding the north, the Sunni ISIS militants taking parts of the north and west, leaving the central and south-eastern to the Shiite population who currently run the government and military.
The Iraqi Ambassador to Washington warned the ‘integrity of Iraq is in question’, while Dr Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister of Iraq, added that a break-up was ‘not impossible’.
The governor of Mosul, who escaped the city and is now in Erbil in the Kurdish north, said that Iraq must be divided as centralisation had 'failed'.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Atheel al-Nujaifi said prime minister Nouri al-Maliki 'didn't devolve authority to us before, but now we must do it. Now we are saying his centralisation policies have failed,' Mr Nujaifi said.
Repercussions from the conflict are also being felt in global oil markets, where prices shot to a three-month high. The RAC said disruption could add more than 2p to the price of a litre of petrol.
The
price of Brent crude rose $2 to a three-month high of more than $112 on
fears about supply from the second-biggest producer in the Opec oil
cartel.
The RAC said:
‘The worsening situation in Iraq is causing a knee-jerk reaction in the
global fuel market with wholesale prices going up one pence over
Wednesday and Thursday.’
This
was likely to push the pump price of both petrol and diesel up by 2p
per litre in the short term, the RAC said, ‘and this could well go much
further’.
Iraq has insisted sectarian violence will not spread to the south, from which the vast majority of oil output comes.
Iraqi policemen dig trenches at a checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Taji, at the entrance of Baghdad, as jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants push towards the capital
President Barack Obama this evening said he was exploring all options to save Iraq's security forces (pictured) from collapse
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Obama pulled US troops out in 2011 in a completely politically motivated move before the 2012 elections ( Ignoring what commanders on the ground warned ) The US had every right to act as our planes were being shot at on a daily basis ( which is an act of war ) As with everything else ( Syria, Benghazi, Ukraine, etc. ) Obama is completely paralyzed and unable to lead.
The dictators of these countries might not have been the nicest people by our standards, but they kept their countries and the people in-line. Should have left them alone. No need to stir a hornets nest.
Bush and Obama. Two worst presidents ever, with Clinton close behind. Before you start defending Clinton, 911 and the financial crisis in 2008 had their roots in his administration and his decisions.
Joe Biden is on record saying that this is "Obama's Iraq"....so why some of you insist on continuing to blame Bush and Blair is beyond me. The "it's Bush's fault" excuse is pretty lame at this point. Our spineless POTUS is imploding before our very eyes.
So Obama lets this new OBL monster loose as Clinton let the original OBL go - which resulted in 9/11. Rinse and repeat or what? Obama still deciding .... what to do, what to do....as it's going to get out that the US has been funding. aiding and involved with the origins of this ME terrorist group ISIS war/take over via "assisting the rebels in Syria" against the Assad regime all along. Oh my. Egypt, Libya - he always seems to take the terrorists side. Notice how Egypt has simmered down since they booted the US out of their business?
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Alan Barr, The North, United Kingdom, 11 hours ago
This is an old video released weeks ago