"The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse, making it the second city to fall to anti-government forces this year.
Militants were making further gains in a fourth day of fighting in the country's second-largest city.
According to Reuters news agency, the city’s governor Atheel Nujaifi was trapped inside the provincial government’s headquarters but managed to escape while police held back an assault by hundreds of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and heavy machine guns mounted on vehicles.
Earlier on Monday, Nujaifi made a televised plea to the city's inhabitants to fight militants who have been regaining ground in Iraq and last Friday moved into Mosul.
"I call on the men of Mosul to stand firm in their areas and defend them against the outsiders, and to form popular committees through the provincial council," said Nujaifi, the Iraqi flag draped behind him.
The western side of Mosul is now in control of militants, who are advancing steadily southwards in the direction of a major army base where a military airport and top-security prison are located, three army officers told Reuters.
Several army officers told Reuters that Iraqi forces were demoralized and no match for the militants from the ISIS, which is also active across the border in Syria.
"Without urgent intervention of more supporting troops Mosul could fall into their hands in a matter of days" said a senior security official from Nineveh operation center, adding that ISIS was only 3 kilometers from the Ghizlani military camp.
(With Reuters and AFP)
[english.alarabiya.net]
10/6/14
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Militants seized Iraq's second-largest city June 9, officials said, in another blow to the authorities, who appear incapable of stopping rebel advances.....
ReplyDeleteOvernight, hundreds of gunmen launched an assault on Mosul, 350 kilometres north of Baghdad, engaging in combat with troops and police, they said.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has also reportedly taken 28 Turkish truck drivers hostage. The drivers had been travelling from the southern Turkish city of İskenderun to the Geyara Thermal Power Plant in Mosul, Doğan News Agency reported.
A senior Turkish official told Reuters that Turkey is investigating media reports. "The situation in Mosul looks a bit grim ... Concerning the 28 truck drivers, we are trying to confirm through our consular department but we have nothing as yet," a second Turkish official said.
The phone lines of the Turkish Consulate in Mosul have been cut, though Ankara can still communicate with Consul Öztürk Yılmaz through his cellphone, Hürriyet's Uğur Ergan has reported. Yılmaz recently survived a bomb attack while traveling to the northern city of Arbil.
Before the entire city fell, militants took control of the governor's headquarters, prisons and television stations. "The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an interior ministry official told AFP, making it the second city to fall to anti-government forces this year.
An AFP journalist, himself fleeing the city, said shops were closed, security forces had abandoned vehicles and a police station had been set ablaze.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has called on the people of the Kurdish region to help the displaced people of Mosul, while accusing the central government of not cooperating with the KRG against militants.
Kurdish leaders offers help
“Over the last two days, we tried extremely hard to establish cooperation with the Iraqi Security Forces in order to protect the city of Mosul. Tragically, Baghdad adopted a position which has prevented the establishment of this cooperation,” Barzani said in a written statement...........http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/militants-seize-iraqs-second-largest-city-mosul-kidnap-28-turkish-truck-drivers.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67606&NewsCatID=352
Iraqi authorities declared on Tuesday a state of emergency in Mosul after the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) took control of the city, driving army troops from their central base, an Al Arabiya News Channel correspondent reported....
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to provide citizens willing to fight militants with weapons and equipment.
"The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse, making it the second city to fall to anti-government forces this year.
Militants were making further gains in a fourth day of fighting in the city.
An Al Arabiya Channel correspondent said that at least 2,725 prisoners had escaped from jails in the country’s second-largest city.
Mosul Governor Atheel Nujaifi had been trapped inside the provincial government’s headquarters but managed to escape while police held back an assault by hundreds of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and machine guns mounted on vehicles, Reuters news agency reported.........http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/10/Iraq-insurgents-overrun-Mosul-govt-HQ.html
Iraq crisis: Islamists force 500,000 to flee Mosul...
ReplyDeleteAs many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee Iraq's second city of Mosul after Islamist militants effectively took control of it.
Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIS group overran the city and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki responded by asking parliament to declare a state of emergency to grant him greater powers.
The US said the development showed ISIS is a threat to the entire region.
ISIS - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - is an offshoot of al-Qaeda which now controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a militant enclave straddling the border.
'Chaotic situation'
Residents of Mosul said jihadist flags were flying from buildings and that the militants had announced over loudspeakers they had "come to liberate" the city.
"The situation is chaotic inside the city, and there is nobody to help us," said government worker Umm Karam. "We are afraid."............http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27789229
11/6/14
'Serious' security concerns as Iraq's second-largest city falls to militants...
ReplyDeleteA major outbreak of violence and unrest in northern Iraq -- where Al Qaeda-aligned insurgents effectively toppled the country's second-largest city -- is fueling concerns in Washington that security is rapidly deteriorating, a little more than two years after U.S. troops left the country.
The city of Mosul fell to Al Qaeda-affiliated militants on Tuesday. The White House and State Department condemned the five-day escalation of violence in the oil-rich region “in the strongest possible terms.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the bloodshed “has led to a serious deterioration of the security situation in that city.”
“The situation is extremely serious, and U.S. officials in both Washington and Baghdad are tracking events closely in coordination with the government of Iraq,” Earnest said.
The tone at the State Department shifted considerably from a day earlier, when spokeswoman Marie Harf downplayed the situation. “I don’t get the sense that they’re gaining a lot of territory,” Harf said Monday at a press briefing.
On Tuesday, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the violence showed how fragile the security in Iraq had become. She said the U.S. is "deeply concerned" about the unrest in Mosul, blaming the situation in part on the Al Qaeda-tied Islamic State of Iraq gaining strength from the civil war in Syria...........http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/10/white-house-state-department-condem-escalating-violence-in-iraq/
ISIL takes more Turkish drivers hostage in northern Iraq, threatening region....
ReplyDeleteThe number of Turkish truck drivers taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq has risen from 28 to 32 on June 11, as Islamist militants continue their offensive one day after they effectively took control of 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, Anadolu Agency reported. Iraqi security sources who spoke to Reuters, on the other hand, told that Sunni militants have pushed into Iraqi town of Baiji, which is the site of a major oil refinery.
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, which is another oil-rich town in the north.................http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/isil-takes-more-turkish-drivers-hostage-in-northern-iraq-threatening-region.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67649&NewsCatID=359