Baghdad: ISIL militants took a town an hour from Baghdad that is home to four natural gas fields on Thursday, another gain by Sunni insurgents who have swiftly taken large areas to the north and west of the Iraqi capital.
The overnight armed offensive included Mansouriyat al-Jabal, home to the gas fields where foreign companies operate, security forces said. The fighting threatens to rupture the country two-and-a-half years after the end of US occupation.
Elsewhere, Iraqi forces launched a helicopter-borne assault aimed at opening the way to retaking militant-held Tikrit, while the autonomous Kurdish region further staked its claim to Kirkuk.
Meanwhile, amid a refusal by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to form a national emergency government, Iraq’s presidency said a session of Parliament would be held on July 1, the first step to forming a new government that the international community hopes will be inclusive enough to undermine the ISIL.
Parliament will have 30 days to name a President and 15 days after that to name a Prime Minister although the process has been delayed in the past.
Mr Maliki’s Shia-led State of Law coalition won the most seats in the April elections but needs support of other Shia groups, Sunnis and Kurds to build a government.
Also, an ancient pre-Christian temple, that was featured in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist has been taken by ISIL militants in northern Iraq. The Hatra worship complex, a Unesco world heritage site, appears in the opening scenes of the cult film.
