Residents Say Militants Seize Northern Iraqi Town
Residents and local Iraqi officials say Sunni militants have seized the northern city of Tal Afar, the latest capture in a surge of fighting that has international condemnation and calls for unity in Iraq.
The seizure early Monday comes after a week in which militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized Mosul and Tikrit and threatened to advance on Baghdad.
The United States is adding about 100 soldiers and Marines to boost security at its embassy in Baghdad, while relocating some non-essential staff to sites in Basrah, Irbil and Amman, Jordan. A U.S. aircraft carrier has been deployed to the Persian Gulf.
A senior State Department official said Sunday that Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates about the need to support the people of Iraq and Syria against the threat of ISIL. The official said the ministers also talked about the need for Iraq’s leaders to implement a “coordinated and effective approach” to move the country forward.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also stressed the need for political and social measures and an “inclusive national security plan” to address the security threat. He again condemned the violence by ISIL, including what his spokesman called “deeply disturbing” reports of summary executions by the militants.
Pictures the militants posted Sunday on the Internet appear to show fighters executing a group of Iraqi soldiers.
Some of the victims are seen crouching with weapons aimed directly at their heads. The authenticity of the photographs cannot be verified.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta, told reporters Sunday that Iraqi forces had “regained the initiative” in their fight against Sunni militants and had killed 279 terrorists since Saturday.
The government’s claim and casualty numbers are hard to verify, but Iraqi forces and Shi’ite volunteers are starting to regroup and bolster their defenses, especially around Baghdad.
Many government fighters abandoned their positions and left their weapons and vehicles behind last week as the militants seized territory in the north.
President Barack Obama says no American forces will sent back into Iraq, but he has not ruled out any other action, including air strikes.
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told domestic television networks Sunday that the U.S. may have to cooperate with Iran to help prevent Baghdad from falling.
NATO calls for release of Turks
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on Monday for the immediate release of Turkish diplomatic and security staff held by insurgents in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) kidnapped 49 Turks, including special forces soldiers, diplomats and children, from the Turkish consulate on Wednesday as they overran Mosul.
“We follow the dangerous developments in Iraq with great concern. I condemn the unacceptable attack on the consulate general in Mosul,” Rasmussen said during a visit to Ankara, standing beside Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
“We want to see all of the Turkish hostages released and we want to see them safe,” he said.
The ISIL offensive threatens to dismember Iraq and leaves Turkey, a NATO member, facing a widening Islamist insurgency in two of its southern neighbors, with ISIL also making territorial gains in Syria near the Turkish border.
Ankara has the second largest armed forces in the NATO military alliance after the United States. It is hosting six NATO Patriot missile batteries meant to defend it against any attacks from Syria.
The diplomats and soldiers trapped inside the Mosul consulate had no option but to surrender after hundreds of heavily armed Islamist militants surrounded the building, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said the hostages are unharmed and that all efforts are being made to secure their release, as well as a second group of 31 Turkish truck drivers also captured by ISIL last week.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said on CNN that the United States has to bring Iraqi Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds together in unified fashion to confront a common threat.
(additional reports from Reuters)