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| Insurgents in North Ambush Militia Volunteers and Seize Another City | Insurgents in North Ambush Militia Volunteers and Seize Another City |
| (2 months later) | |
| BAGHDAD — The Sunni extremist militants threatening Iraq seized another northern city on Monday in a battle with the Iraqi Army after having ambushed a convoy of untrained Shiite volunteers in the first lethal encounter between Sunni and Shiite combatants since the government began mobilizing thousands of Shiites. | |
| The insurgents, an alliance of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the vestiges of loyalists to the Saddam Hussein government that was ousted by the Americans a decade ago, took over the city of Tal Afar, according to Iraqi security officials and residents, sending both Shiite and Sunni residents fleeing. | The insurgents, an alliance of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the vestiges of loyalists to the Saddam Hussein government that was ousted by the Americans a decade ago, took over the city of Tal Afar, according to Iraqi security officials and residents, sending both Shiite and Sunni residents fleeing. |
| In an additional sign of diminished confidence in the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, President Obama said on Monday that he had ordered up to 275 members of the United States armed forces into Iraq to guard the American Embassy in Baghdad, a day after the State Department announced a partial evacuation of the heavily fortified facility. | In an additional sign of diminished confidence in the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, President Obama said on Monday that he had ordered up to 275 members of the United States armed forces into Iraq to guard the American Embassy in Baghdad, a day after the State Department announced a partial evacuation of the heavily fortified facility. |
| “This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, and is equipped for combat,” Mr. Obama said in a letter to congressional leaders that was released by the White House. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.” | “This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, and is equipped for combat,” Mr. Obama said in a letter to congressional leaders that was released by the White House. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.” |
| The Pentagon said that 170 military personnel began arriving in Baghdad over the weekend and that 100 others were moved into the region to provide airfield management, security and logistics support, if required. | The Pentagon said that 170 military personnel began arriving in Baghdad over the weekend and that 100 others were moved into the region to provide airfield management, security and logistics support, if required. |
| Earlier Monday, the United Nations said it had temporarily relocated 58 staff members from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan. Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters in New York that more United Nations staff members might be moved in coming days. | Earlier Monday, the United Nations said it had temporarily relocated 58 staff members from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan. Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters in New York that more United Nations staff members might be moved in coming days. |
| The new setbacks for the Iraqi government added urgency to demands from Iran and the United States — which have now both signaled a new willingness to cooperate on the crisis — that Mr. Maliki move quickly to reach out to Sunnis and Kurds and forge a united front against the Sunni extremists, who in the past week have brought much of the north and west of the country under their control. | The new setbacks for the Iraqi government added urgency to demands from Iran and the United States — which have now both signaled a new willingness to cooperate on the crisis — that Mr. Maliki move quickly to reach out to Sunnis and Kurds and forge a united front against the Sunni extremists, who in the past week have brought much of the north and west of the country under their control. |
| Mr. Maliki has publicly declared his confidence that the volunteers would help fill gaps in his beleaguered military, which has been decimated by desertions. Young Shiite men have enthusiastically signed up throughout Baghdad and southern Iraq, racing to the front lines with little training or preparation, since Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, exhorted them on Friday to take up arms and defend the country. | Mr. Maliki has publicly declared his confidence that the volunteers would help fill gaps in his beleaguered military, which has been decimated by desertions. Young Shiite men have enthusiastically signed up throughout Baghdad and southern Iraq, racing to the front lines with little training or preparation, since Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, exhorted them on Friday to take up arms and defend the country. |
| Yet the ambush, which occurred Sunday night near Samarra, about 70 miles north of Baghdad, raised questions about how effective such volunteers will be in fighting experienced insurgents. | Yet the ambush, which occurred Sunday night near Samarra, about 70 miles north of Baghdad, raised questions about how effective such volunteers will be in fighting experienced insurgents. |
| The volunteers had just left the northern town of Ishaqi and were heading south to reinforce Samarra, still held by the Iraqi Army but under pressure from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which has threatened to destroy its historic Shiite shrine. An attack on that shrine in 2006, during the height of the American-led invasion that toppled the Hussein regime, provoked bloody sectarian warfare nationwide. | The volunteers had just left the northern town of Ishaqi and were heading south to reinforce Samarra, still held by the Iraqi Army but under pressure from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which has threatened to destroy its historic Shiite shrine. An attack on that shrine in 2006, during the height of the American-led invasion that toppled the Hussein regime, provoked bloody sectarian warfare nationwide. |
| Hidden in a small convoy of refrigerator trucks for the perilous journey through territory where ISIS is active, the volunteers were hit with a roadside bomb, said a Shiite militia leader, Abu Mujahid. At the same time, he said, “the militants came from nowhere and started shooting from everywhere and killed 28 volunteers.” | Hidden in a small convoy of refrigerator trucks for the perilous journey through territory where ISIS is active, the volunteers were hit with a roadside bomb, said a Shiite militia leader, Abu Mujahid. At the same time, he said, “the militants came from nowhere and started shooting from everywhere and killed 28 volunteers.” |
| At the morgue of the hospital in Samarra, an official said 29 dead were brought there, and that a further 190 volunteers were wounded in the attack. Mr. Mujahid put the wounded at 17. | At the morgue of the hospital in Samarra, an official said 29 dead were brought there, and that a further 190 volunteers were wounded in the attack. Mr. Mujahid put the wounded at 17. |
| Farther north, the fall of Tal Afar followed a two-day battle between the Iraqi military and the insurgents. The militants have now gained control of another city on the road to Syria through Nineveh Province, after the fall less than a week earlier of the province’s capital, Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, about 35 miles to the east of Tal Afar. | Farther north, the fall of Tal Afar followed a two-day battle between the Iraqi military and the insurgents. The militants have now gained control of another city on the road to Syria through Nineveh Province, after the fall less than a week earlier of the province’s capital, Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, about 35 miles to the east of Tal Afar. |
| The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants claimed that along with taking Tal Afar, they had captured the commander of Iraqi Army forces in the city, Gen. Abu al-Waleed, and planned to execute him in a square in central Mosul. Residents said the militants used bullhorns to call people to the execution, but it never took place. General Waleed’s voice was later heard on Iraqi state television disputing the insurgents’ claims. “I am in good health and on the battlefield and will announce victory over ISIS in all of the territory of Tal Afar in the next few hours,” the channel quoted him as saying. | The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants claimed that along with taking Tal Afar, they had captured the commander of Iraqi Army forces in the city, Gen. Abu al-Waleed, and planned to execute him in a square in central Mosul. Residents said the militants used bullhorns to call people to the execution, but it never took place. General Waleed’s voice was later heard on Iraqi state television disputing the insurgents’ claims. “I am in good health and on the battlefield and will announce victory over ISIS in all of the territory of Tal Afar in the next few hours,” the channel quoted him as saying. |
| Residents of Tal Afar, which has a population of 200,000, said most Shiite families had fled west, toward Sinjar, while Sunnis had gone east, toward Mosul. | Residents of Tal Afar, which has a population of 200,000, said most Shiite families had fled west, toward Sinjar, while Sunnis had gone east, toward Mosul. |
| One of the first clashes also erupted on Monday between ISIS fighters and members of the Kurdish pesh merga militia, who have sought to avoid each other. A pesh merga convoy on the Kirkuk-Tikrit highway inadvertently strayed into a no man’s land and encountered an ISIS checkpoint, which fired at the convoy and wounded at least one Kurdish militia member. The convoy then turned around. | One of the first clashes also erupted on Monday between ISIS fighters and members of the Kurdish pesh merga militia, who have sought to avoid each other. A pesh merga convoy on the Kirkuk-Tikrit highway inadvertently strayed into a no man’s land and encountered an ISIS checkpoint, which fired at the convoy and wounded at least one Kurdish militia member. The convoy then turned around. |
| In Geneva, the top human rights official of the United Nations added her voice to the growing alarm over summary executions carried out by Sunni militants in Iraq, asserting they had killed more than a dozen religious leaders in Mosul. | In Geneva, the top human rights official of the United Nations added her voice to the growing alarm over summary executions carried out by Sunni militants in Iraq, asserting they had killed more than a dozen religious leaders in Mosul. |
| The official, Navi Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights, also said her own sources had corroborated ISIS claims that its fighters had massacred hundreds of Shiite soldiers in recent days. | The official, Navi Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights, also said her own sources had corroborated ISIS claims that its fighters had massacred hundreds of Shiite soldiers in recent days. |
| “This apparently systematic series of coldblooded executions, mostly conducted in various locations in the Tikrit area, almost certainly amounts to war crimes,” Ms. Pillay said in a statement. | “This apparently systematic series of coldblooded executions, mostly conducted in various locations in the Tikrit area, almost certainly amounts to war crimes,” Ms. Pillay said in a statement. |
| In the capital, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operation Command, held a news briefing to announce that the authorities had killed 56 insurgents in areas of western and southern Baghdad. He also denied reports by Al-Hadath Television, part of the Saudi-owned Arabiya television network, that the insurgents had made strikes near Baghdad International Airport. | In the capital, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operation Command, held a news briefing to announce that the authorities had killed 56 insurgents in areas of western and southern Baghdad. He also denied reports by Al-Hadath Television, part of the Saudi-owned Arabiya television network, that the insurgents had made strikes near Baghdad International Airport. |
| “The airport is functional, and everything is normal,” General Maan said, adding that the authorities wanted Al-Hadath to be shut down because of its reports. | “The airport is functional, and everything is normal,” General Maan said, adding that the authorities wanted Al-Hadath to be shut down because of its reports. |