Insurgents take control of Saddam’s hometown

Al-Qaeda-inspired militants seized effective control of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, expanding their offensive closer to the Iraqi capital as mass beheadings were being reported.

Soldiers and security forces abandoned their posts following clashes with the insurgents.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control a day earlier of much of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in a major blow to the authority of the country’s Shiite government. An estimated half a million residents fled the economically important city.

ISIL is led by the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and backed by thousands of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, many of them Westerners, and it appears to be surpassing Al-Qaida as the world’s most dangerous jihadist group.

Western governments fear it could eventually emulate al-Qaida and strike overseas, but their biggest worry for now is likely the eventual return home of foreign fighters attracted by ISIL and Baghdadi.

Residents reached by telephone in Sunni-dominated Tikrit said the Sunni militant group had taken over several police stations. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety.

Two Iraqi security officials confirmed Tikrit was under the control of the ISIL, and said the provincial governor was missing. Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, is 130km north of Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the massive security failure in Sunni- dominated Ninevah province that allowed militants to seize Mosul was the result of a “conspiracy,” and that those members of the security forces who fled rather than stand up to the militants should be punished. He stopped short of assigning direct blame, however, choosing to focus instead on plans to fight back.

“Today, the important thing is that we are working to solve the situation,” al-Maliki said. “We are making preparations and we are regrouping the armed forces that are in charge of clearing Ninevah from those terrorists.”

The stunning assault by the al-Qaeda-inspired group saw black banner-waving insurgents raid government buildings, push out security forces and capture military vehicles as residents fled for their lives.

Mosul is the capital of Ninevah province. It and the neighbouring Sunni- dominated province of Anbar share a long and porous border with Syria, where the Islamic State is also active.

Ninevah governor Atheel al-Nujaifi told reporters that “Mosul is capable of getting back on its feet and getting rid of all the outsiders,” and said authorities planned to mobilise residents into popular militias that would play a role in retaking the city.

There were no immediate estimates on how many people were killed in the assault but the rampage sent an estimated 500,000 people fleeing from the city and surrounding areas, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Some simply crossed to the eastern bank of the Tigris River to avoid the worst of the fighting, while others made their way to the Ninevah countryside or sought refuge in the nearby semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Getting into that area has grown trickier, however, with migrants without family members already in the enclave needing to secure permission from Kurdish authorities, according to the migration group.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the fall of the major northern city to insurgents must push the country’s leaders to work together and deal with the “serious, mortal threat” facing Iraq.

Mosul residents said gunmen went around knocking on their doors, reassuring locals they would not be harmed and urging civil servants to return to work.

The situation appeared calm but tense, said the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concerns for their safety.

Mosul’s fall was a heavy defeat for al-Maliki amid a widening insurgency by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The group has been advancing in both Iraq and Syria, capturing territory in a campaign to set up a militant enclave on the border.