The Iraqi city of Tikrit has been seized by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, security sources have said, the second city to fall to the group in two days.
Sources told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that gunmen had set up checkpoints around Tikrit, which lies between the capital Baghdad and Mosul, which was caputured by ISIL on Tuesday.
"All of Tikrit is in the hands of the militants," a police colonel told the AFP news agency. A police brigadier general told AFP that fighters attacked from the north, west and south of the city, and that they were from ISIL.
A police major told the agency that the militants had freed about 300 inmates from a prison in the city, the capital of Salaheddin province.
- Meanwhile, sources said the nearby city of Kirkuk, home to Iraq's biggest oil refinery, was also being attacked by ISIL.
In Samarra, south of Tikrit, witnesses told the AFP news agency that fighters had arrived in trucks mounted with machineguns, while a policeman said his unit was involved in fighting at the northwest entrance the city..........http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/iraqi-city-tikrit-falls-isil-fighters-2014611135333576799.html
11/6/14
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Turkish drivers expect to be released by ISIL...
ReplyDeleteOne of the 32 Turkish truck drivers taken hostage by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq on June 10 has told daily Hürriyet that they expect to be released soon.
Speaking to Hürriyet on the phone on the evening of June 11, on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, the man said 21 drivers were being held at a thermal power plant, while 11 others had been transferred to another location while handcuffed.
An ISIL militant told the hostages “to be prepared” and “not to make any move as they would be released in an hour,” according to the driver. “Inşallah [God willing] they will hold their promise,” he said............http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-drivers-expect-to-be-released-by-isil.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67679&NewsCatID=352
Turkey calls for emergency NATO meeting on Iraq ...
ReplyDeleteTurkey has called for an emergency meeting of NATO to discuss the security situation in Iraq after militants took 80 Turkish citizens hostage during a lightning advance, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry has confirmed 49 Turkish consulate staff members, including the consul-general and family members, have been abducted by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The abductions came Wednesday, a day after ISIL took control of Iraq's second-largest city and seized 31 Turkish truck drivers who were transporting fuel to a thermal power plant.
Speaking as he prepared to leave a UN meeting on counter-terrorism in the United States to return to Ankara, the Turkish capital, to deal with the incident, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Iraqi government was responsible for the security of the consulate staff.
"No one should dare test Turkey's power," he said, adding that Turkey would not allow any harming of its nationals to go unpunished. ..............http://www.worldbulletin.net/haberler/138745/turkey-calls-for-emergency-nato-meeting-on-iraq
11/6/14