Americans being evacuated from Iraqi air base as militants advance
Americans being evacuated from Iraqi air base as militants advance
Americans were being evacuated Thursday from a major Iraqi air base as Al Qaeda-aligned militants toppled cities in the country’s north and threatened to advance toward Baghdad.
Iraq conflict: All options open to fight insurgents – Obama
US President Barack Obama says his government is looking at “all options”, including military action, to help Iraq fight Islamist militants. But the White House also insisted it had no intention of sending ground troops. The remarks came after the cities of Mosul and Tikrit fell to Sunni Islamist insurgents during a lightning advance.
Iraq conflict: ISIS militants seize new towns
Islamist militants in Iraq have seized two new towns, widening their control after threatening to move on Baghdad. The Sunni-led Islamists advanced into Saadiya and Jalawla in Diyala province and surrounding areas as security forces abandoned their posts. The US says it is looking at “all options”, including military action, to help Iraq fight the insurgency.
Iran, of all places, has reportedly dispatched two units of its elite Revolutionary Guards to Iraq to help stem the tide of terrorist gains and defend Baghdad from assault. The two nations were bitter rivals for decades when Saddam Hussein’s Sunni dominated regime was at war with Tehran’s Shiite-led government. After the U.S. invasion, the Iraqi government came to be dominated by Shiite leaders, who now finds themselves under assault from the Sunni militants of ISIS. Now Iran sees Baghdad as a strategic partner, and the ISIS militias as unacceptable neighbors.
Ukraine’s interior minister says that three tanks have crossed into Ukrainian territory from Russia and were attacked by his country’s forces.
Two long-range Russian bombers flew within 50 miles of the northern California coast Monday. The incident began much further north when four Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber planes and a refueling tanker enter the outer Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near Alaska.
Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms as Sunni-led insurgents sweep across towns. The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east and threatened to march south. The UN says hundreds have been killed – with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.
Government troops in eastern Ukraine have launched a dawn attack on separatist rebels in the port of Mariupol, with heavy fighting reported. Interior Minister Arseny Avakov said the security forces were successfully bringing separatist strongholds in the city “under control”. Five pro-Russian rebels were reported killed and at least four government soldiers injured in the city.
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