Dozens of militants have overrun the provincial government headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, dealing a serious blow to Baghdad's efforts to control a widening insurgency in the country, a provincial official said Tuesday. The insurgents seized the complex late Monday following days of fighting in the country's second-largest city, a former al-Qaida stronghold situated in what has long been one of the more restive parts of Iraq. The fighters are believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida splinter group that is behind the bulk of the bloody attacks in Iraq and is among the most ruthless rebel forces fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria. Several residents reported seeing the gunmen hoisting the black flags inscribed with the Islamic declaration of flags that are used by ISIL, al-Qaida and other jihadist groups. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Mosul is 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, in Ninevah province. Ali Mahmoud, the media official for Ninevah province, said insurgents armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers stormed the government building in Mosul late on Monday night. He said they were able to overpower the building guards after a short firefight. Provincial governor Atheel al-Nujaifi was in a nearby guest house but managed to escape from the area unharmed, he said. He is the brother of Iraq's parliament speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi. Earlier, the gunmen torched several of the city's police stations, freeing detainees held in their lockups. The attack on Mosul comes as Iraq grapples with its worst surge in violence since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006 and 2007. ISIL insurgents and their allies remain in control of Fallujah and other parts of Anbar province, which neighbors Ninevah province and like it shares a long and loosely controlled border with Syria. The militants have also managed to launch frequent coordinated attacks in the capital, Baghdad, and in other parts of the country. Nouri Maliki said "vital areas" of the city had been seized; some 150,000 people are believed to have fled. Troops fled Mosul as hundreds of jihadists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) overran it. The US has said ISIS threatens not just Iraq, but the entire region. State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the situation in Mosul, Iraq's second city, was "extremely serious" and that the US supported "a strong, co-ordinated response to push back against this aggression". Security sources also told the BBC on Tuesday that fierce fighting had erupted between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighters in a town called Rashad near Kirkuk, south-east of Mosul. ISIS has been informally controlling much of Nineveh province for months and the past week has attacked cities and towns in western and northern Iraq, killing scores of people. After five days of fighting, they took control of key installations in Mosul, which has a population of about 1.8 million. On Tuesday, residents said jihadist flags were flying from buildings and that the militants had announced over loudspeakers they had "come to liberate Mosul". "The situation is chaotic inside the city and there is nobody to help us," said government worker Umm Karam. "We are afraid." Many police stations were reported to have been set on fire and hundreds of detainees set free. A state of emergency has been declared in Iraq after militants effectively seized control of the country's second city. Security forces abandoned their posts in Mosul after fighters, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, overran government and military buildings. raqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has said the government would arm citizens to fight the militants, who are believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). An army colonel in the local military command said: "We have lost Mosul... Army and police forces left their positions and ISIL terrorists are in full control. It's a total collapse for the security forces." Thousands of families have fled to the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq's north. Cars and trucks were seen queuing at a checkpoint on the boundary to the region. Police were discarding uniforms and weapons and fleeing the city of two million people, where the ISIL black flag was flying over government buildings. "Mosul now is like hell. It's in flames and death is everywhere," said widow Amina Ibrahim, who was leaving with her children. Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi told journalists in Baghdad that "all of Nineveh province" had fallen to the militants who were now heading south towards Salaheddin province. He called on the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government to send reinforcements.

• published: 10 Jun 2014
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