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Insurgents Vow to March on Baghdad as Iraq Authorities Scramble to Respond Kurdish Troops in Control of Key Iraqi Town, Official Says
(about 1 hour later)
BAGHDAD — Parliamentary leaders in Baghdad called a special session of the legislature on Thursday to debate the imposition of a state of emergency after Sunni militants swept south toward a possible assault on the capital, taking two key cities including Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, and Mosul further north. ERBIL, Iraq — Kurdish officials said on Thursday that their forces were in firm control of the strategic oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq after government troops had abandoned their posts, introducing a new dimension into the swirling conflict propelled by Sunni militants pressing south toward Baghdad.
But even as the militants expanded the territory under their control, Kurdish officials said that their forces had the strategic city of Kirkuk firmly in their control after Iraqi federal troops left their posts. The apparent involvement of Kurdish pesh merga forces could signal a new phase in the conflict with the addition of disciplined troops with limited allegiance to the central government in Baghdad. “The army disappeared,” said Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk, two days after militants aligned with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria swept across the porous border from Syria to overrun Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and then began a thrust toward Baghdad, capturing the town of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, on Wednesday.
“The army disappeared,” said Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk. The apparent involvement of Kurdish pesh merga forces drew new lines in the patchwork of allegiances and alliances, adding disciplined troops whose allegiance to the central government in Baghdad is limited. On Wednesday, Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, himself a Kurd, was quoted as saying that the Kurdish minority would “work together” with Baghdad’s forces to “flush out these foreign fighters.”
At the same time, Iraqi officials said, the government was trying to deploy special forces backed by Shiite volunteers to the north of the country where insurgents overran Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in a surprise attack on Tuesday to launch an operation that grew rapidly as a number of militant groups joined forces. At a meeting of Arab and European foreign ministers in Athens, Mr. Zebari called the insurgents’ strike “a serious, mortal threat,” adding: “The response has to be soon. There has to be a quick response to what has happened.”
The insurgent commanders are said to include Baathist military officers from the Hussein era, including Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former vice president and one of the few prominent Baathists to evade capture during the American-led occupation. The urgency was underscored on Thursday when an insurgent spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, exhorted the militants to advance on the Iraqi capital and press on to the southern Iraqi Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, news reports said.
News reports quoted the main insurgent group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as renewing its vow on Thursday to march on Baghdad and on cities to its south after pouring down the main north-south highway to reach Samarra, which lies about 70 miles north of the Iraqi capital. The Associated Press quoted him as urging his followers to march toward Baghdad because they “have an account to settle,” in a recording on militant websites commonly used by the group. The statement could not be independently verified.
The city is home to a sacred Shiite shrine that was bombed in 2006 during the American-led occupation, igniting a sectarian civil war between the Sunni minority and the Shiite majority. The spokesman was also quoted as saying that a high-ranking insurgent commander, known variously as Adnan Ismail Najm and Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Bilawi al-Anbari had died in the insurgent offensive. According to Mr. Adnani, the spokesman, the commander had worked closely with the former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by American troops in 2006.
The swift capture of Mosul by militants crossing the porous border from Syria has underscored how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have fused into a widening regional insurgency which jihadist militants have cast as the precursor to an Islamic caliphate. Mr. Najm had been detained for several years but was released two years ago, enabling him to prepare and command the operations that led up to the newest incursion, The A.P. said.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has urged the divided Parliament in Baghdad to declare a state of emergency, which would give him broad powers across the country to resist the insurgency. But it was not immediately clear if lawmakers would assemble in sufficient numbers or with enough resolve to support the call with the required two-thirds majority. Parliamentary leaders in Baghdad called a special session of the legislature on Thursday to debate the imposition of a state of emergency that would give Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki wide powers to restrict citizens’ movements, impose curfews and censor the media. But by early afternoon it appeared the body would not have the quorum needed to pass the emergency decree. A senior government official told Agence France-Presse that only 128 of 325 members of parliament had attended the session, far short of the number needed for a formal vote.
An emergency decree would empower Mr. Maliki to impose curfews, censor the media and restrict public movements, news reports said. Iraqi officials also said that the government was trying to deploy special forces, backed by Shiite volunteers, to the north of the country in a counteroffensive against the militants, whose commanders are said to include Baathist military officers from the Hussein era including Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former vice president and one of the few prominent Baathists to evade capture during the American-led occupation.
Officials speaking on the condition of anonymity described a twin response involving the deployment of special forces and volunteers to the north and an effort closer to the seat of government to crack down on cells of insurgent sympathizers around Baghdad. After overrunning Mosul and Tikrit, the insurgents poured down the main north-south highway to reach Samarra, about 70 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
The city is home to a sacred Shiite shrine that was bombed in 2006 during the American-led occupation, igniting a sectarian civil war between the Sunni minority and the Shiite majority. On the way, the insurgents were said to have taken positions in parts of the important refining town of Baiji, north of Tikrit, but there were conflicting accounts on Thursday as to who was in control there and whether the refinery was operating.
The swift capture of Mosul by militants crossing the border from Syria has underscored how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have fused into a widening regional insurgency that jihadist militants have cast as the precursor to establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Describing the government’s response to the insurgency, officials speaking on the condition of anonymity said on Thursday that special forces and volunteers would be deployed to the north while security forces closer to the seat of government cracked down on cells of insurgent sympathizers around Baghdad.
Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that the insurgents had made another gain, seizing the town of Dhuluiyah between Baghdad and Samarra, but there was no immediate verification of that account.Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that the insurgents had made another gain, seizing the town of Dhuluiyah between Baghdad and Samarra, but there was no immediate verification of that account.
For much of their initial advance, the insurgents have met scant resistance, with government forces shedding their uniforms, handing over weapons and equipment and abandoning checkpoints.For much of their initial advance, the insurgents have met scant resistance, with government forces shedding their uniforms, handing over weapons and equipment and abandoning checkpoints.
Separately, 49 Turkish citizens who were taken hostage after militants stormed the Turkish consulate in Mosul on Wednesday were reported to be in good health and are expecting to be released soon, a consulate employee told Turkish media.
The Iraqi employee, who was not in the building at the time of the raid, said he had reached fellow workers by phone. He said they had told him that consular staff members, including the consul general, had not been harmed.
“The hostages were put into vehicles belonging to the consulate and were taken to the al-Danadan neighborhood before being taken to another area of the city. They are in good health and are expecting to be released soon,” he told Hurriyet Daily News.
The prime minister’s office in Turkey could not immediately confirm the report.