MOSUL/BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces backed by civilian volunteers have regained more territory Sunday, easing part of the pressure on the government in Baghdad, and officials said they were regaining the initiative. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed to rout the insurgents.
However the Al-Qaeda offensive that has threatened to dismember Iraq spread to the northwest of the country Sunday, when Sunni militants overran a town close to the Syrian border, clashing with police and government forces.
As the rapid advance south by the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) toward Baghdad appeared to slow over the weekend, fierce fighting erupted in the town of Tal Afar 60 km west of Mosul near the Syrian border, security sources and a local official said.
Tal Afar, a majority Turkmen town which is home to both Shias and Sunnis, showed how volatile the deepening sectarian divisions have become.
ISIS fighters have stormed several towns on the road to Baghdad after seizing Mosul nearly a week ago an offensive which only stalled as it approached the mainly Shia capital.
The situation is disastrous in Tal Afar. There is crazy fighting and most families are trapped inside houses, they cant leave town, a local official said. If the fighting continues, a mass killing among civilians could result, residents said.
In Baghdad, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a vest he was wearing, killing at least nine people and wounding 20 in a crowded street in the center of the capital, police and medical sources said.
And at least six people were killed, including three soldiers and three volunteers, when four mortars landed at a recruiting center in Khlais, 50 km north of Baghdad.
Volunteers were gathered by the army to join fighting to regain control of the northern town of Udhaim from ISIS militants.
They were some of the thousands who responded to a call by the countrys most influential Shia (Marj’a) religious guide to take up arms and defend the country against the hard-line insurgents, many of whom consider Shia Muslims heretics.
Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the groups spokesman has vowed to take the war to the holy Shia cities of Najaf and Karbala describing them filth-ridden city of Karbala and Najaf, the city of polytheism. He also vowed to destroy the shrine of saint Sheykh Abdul Qadir Jilani in Baghdad.
ISIL ATROCITIES
New pictures have emerged online of atrocities and mass killing of Iraqi soldiers and civilians at the hands of militants from the ISIL.
The images, released at the weekend, show masked fighters loading the captives on trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final pictures show bodies soaked in blood after being shot.
ISIL militants are believed to have taken the pictures in Iraqs northern Salahuddin Province.
They show dozens of men in both plain clothes and Iraqi army uniforms being made to lie in several ditches. Other pictures show the ISIL militants shooting at the men.
According to a militant website that posted the photos, the killing is to avenge the death of ISIL commander al-Bailawi who was killed during last weeks clashes in Mosul.
Iraqs military spokesman General Qassim al-Moussawi has confirmed the authenticity of the photos. He says there are more reports about the mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers.
This comes as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has recently condemned reports of summary executions and extra-judicial killings by al-Qaeda-linked militants in various parts of Iraq.
Pillay said the number of people killed in summary executions and extrajudicial killings “may run into the hundreds.”
Several witness accounts and video clips have been released showing the grisly crimes perpetrated by the terrorists against innocent civilians in the crisis-torn country.
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