11.06.2014 13:48
With ISIL militants heading south, Kurdish peshmerga forces take control of Toz Khormato, town south of Kirkuk.
A militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, having taken control of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, headed south Wednesday and attacked parts of the city of Kirkuk.
The group, commonly referred to as by the initials ISIL, met little resistance until it reach southeastern Kirkuk province, of which it ultimately took control. Following that, it took control of southern and southwestern areas of the province.
Thousands of residents fled Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and took shelter in Duhok and Irbil provinces after the military _ according to the province's governor _ simply melted away and allowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to take control of the city.
Local sources said Iraqi army members fled the region, leaving their heavy weapons behind. ISIL militants held victory parades and fired into the air after taking control of Mosul.
When the militants headed for Toz Khormato, in Selahaddin province, south of Kirkuk, a town that has a sizable population of Turkmen -- Turkic people of Central Asia, now living mainly in Turkmenistan, Iran and Afghanistan -- peshmerga, or armed Kurkish fighters from the autonomous Kurdish region of North Iraq, took control of the region to keep the ISIL militants out.
But Toz Khormato governor Shellal Abdul, speaking to The Anadolu Agency, said the security situation in the town is worsening.
"Peshmerga forces will contribute to the security of the town," Abdul said.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was established in the early years of the Iraq War, and it pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004. It is now operating in Syria, as well. In February 2014, al-Qaeda cut off all ties to ISIL.
www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara