Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

A man checks a weapon as Iraqis volunteer to fight
 along side the Iraqi security forces against Jihadist
 militants who have taken over several northern
 Iraqi cities,on June 15 2014. — Photo by AFP

Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

BAGHDAD | AP | 18 june 2014 : : Militants captured the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar early on Monday, its mayor and residents said, the latest blow to the nation's Shia-led government a week after it lost a vast swath of territory in the country's north.

The town, with a population of some 200,000 people, mostly ethnic Shia and Sunni Turkomen, was taken just before dawn, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul told The Associated Press.

The ethnic mix of Tal Afar, 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, raises the grim specter of large-scale atrocities by Sunni militants of the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, who already claim to have killed hundreds of Shias in areas they captured last week.

A Tal Afar resident reached by phone confirmed the town's fall and said militants in pick-up trucks mounted with machine-guns and flying black jihadi banners were roaming the streets as gunfire rang out.

The local security force left the town before dawn, said Hadeer al-Abadi, who spoke to the AP as he prepared to head out of town with his family.

Local tribesmen who continued to fight later surrendered to the militants, he said. “Residents are gripped by fear and most of them have already left the town to areas held by Kurdish security forces,” said al-Abadi.

The fall of Tal Afar comes a week after militants captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in a lightening offensive. The town is some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the border with Syria, where ISIL is fighting against President Bashar Assad's government and controls territory abutting the Iraqi border.

The capture of Tal Afar came just hours after Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, addressing volunteers joining the security forces, vowed to recapture every inch of territory taken by the militants. “We will march and liberate every inch they defaced, from the country's northernmost point to the southernmost point,” al-Maliki said.

The volunteers responded with Shia chants. Fighting in Tal Afar began on Sunday, with Iraqi government officials saying that ISIL fighters were firing rockets seized from military arms depots in the Mosul area. They said the local garrison suffered heavy casualties and the main hospital was unable to cope with the wounded, without providing exact numbers.

Over the weekend, militants posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers. Iraq's chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL.

He told the AP that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death by the militants after their capture. Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say “hundreds have been liquidated,” but the total numbers could not be verified.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the militants' claim of killing the Iraqi troops “is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that those terrorists represent. “ She added that an ISIL claim that 1,700 were killed could not be confirmed by the US

The grisly images could sap the morale of Iraq's security forces, but they could also heighten sectarian tensions.

Thousands of Shias are already heeding a call from their most revered spiritual leader to take up arms against the Sunni militants who have swept across the north in the worst instability in Iraq since the US withdrawal in 2011.

ISIL has vowed to take the battle to Baghdad and cities farther south housing revered Shia shrines.

( Courtesy : Dawn )

Iraq hit by worst violence

Iraq hit by worst violence since 2008.

Figures for the May death toll ranged from more than 600,
according to the government to more than 1,000, according 
to the United Nations, either of which would make the 
violence the deadliest since 2008.—AP/File Photo

BAGHDAD | 01 June 2013:: The worst violence since 2008 hit Iraq in May, raising fears of all-out sectarian strife, as political leaders were to meet on Saturday for talks on persistent disputes that have paralysed the government.

Authorities have failed to bring the wave of unrest under control, and have so far not addressed the underlying political issues that analysts say are driving the attacks, while the UN envoy to Iraq has warned that the violence is “ready to explode”.

Figures for the May death toll ranged from more than 600, according to the government, to more than 1,000, according to the United Nations, either of which would make the violence the deadliest since 2008. Read more>>>

[Courtesy: Dawn]. 

Islamic Terrorism in Iraq killed more than 500 in a month.

Iraq death toll passes 500 in May.

AFP | MAY 28, 2013 :: Violence in Iraq has killed more than 500 people in May, AFP figures showed on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain a wave of unrest that has raised fears of new sectarian conflict.

Meanwhile, the UN envoy urged Iraqi leaders to meet to resolve a long-running political crisis that is often linked to the inability of the country's security forces to reduce levels of violence.

As of Monday, 503 people were killed and 1,273 wounded, making May the deadliest month in at least a year, according to the data, based on reports from security and medical officials.

May is the second month in a row in which more than 400 people have been killed, for a total of 960 people in the two months.

A wave of attacks, including bombings in Baghdad that mainly targeted Shiite areas, killed 58 people on Monday and wounded 187, officials said.

"I once again urge all Iraqi leaders to do everything possible to protect Iraqi civilians. It is their responsibility to stop the bloodshed now," United Nations envoy Martin Kobler said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is the politicians' responsibility to act immediately and to engage in dialogue to resolve the political impasse and not let terrorists benefit from their political differences," he said.

Iraq is faced with various long-running political crises over issues ranging from power-sharing to territorial boundaries, that have paralyzed the government.

The US embassy in Baghdad also condemned the deadly unrest.

Iraq has seen a heightened level of violence since the beginning of the year, coinciding with rising discontent among Iraqi Sunnis that had erupted into protests in late December.

Members of Iraq's Sunni minority, which ruled the country from its establishment after World War I until Saddam Hussein's overthrow by US-led forces in 2003, accuse the Shiite-led government of marginalizing and targeting their community.

Analysts say government policies that have disenfranchised Sunnis, coupled with Shiite-led authorities' refusal to make any major concessions to the protesters, have given militant groups fuel and room to maneuver among the disillusioned community.

The government has made some concessions aimed at placating protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, but underlying issues have yet to be addressed.

Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak at the height of the sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. [Courtesy: AFP]