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Iraq Baghdadis stockpile food in fear of ISIS advance Iraq hits militants from the air north of Baghdad
(about 1 hour later)
Residents of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, are stockpiling food and water as Islamist militants move closer. Government forces in Iraq have used their limited air power to hit Islamist-led militants advancing from the north towards the capital Baghdad.
Fighting between ISIS and the security forces, supported by Shia militias, has raged around the city of Baquba, only 60km (35 miles) away from the capital. They are fighting to push back ISIS and its allies in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, after the militants overran the second city, Mosul, last week.
Correspondents say that the capital is tense with the insurgents closing in from the north and from the west. Fighting is reported in the western city of Ramadi.
Iraqi forces have been engaged in heavy clashes with the rebels who have seized several key cities in the past week. Iraq's biggest oil refinery, Baiji, is reportedly under attack by mortars after being shut down on Tuesday.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron will hold talks with his senior security advisers on Wednesday to discuss the crisis, warning that ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) represents "a real threat to our country". Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared on television with Sunni Muslim and Kurdish leaders on Tuesday to issue a call for national unity, in the face of the advance of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and its Sunni Muslim allies. They demanded that non-state forces lay down their arms.
Strong language However, such a call is unlikely to have much effect as Mr Maliki has openly sponsored the formation of Shia Muslim militias to fight alongside regular Iraqi troops, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Irbil in northern Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has fired senior officers for failing to halt the sweeping advance by Sunni Islamist rebels. UK Prime Minister David Cameron will hold talks with his senior security advisers on Wednesday to discuss the crisis, warning that ISIS represents a "real threat" to Britain.
In unusually strong language on Tuesday, he accused Saudi Arabia - which is largely Sunni - of backing ISIS. Unity call
With Shia areas of the capital bombed almost daily, correspondents say inhabitants of Baghdad have developed a siege mentality. Militants in the western province of Anbar, where the capital is Ramadi, said they had made advances, with a number of police stations near the town of Hit going over to dissident tribes.
People with enough money have started to stockpile essential items of food, correspondents say, which has increased prices dramatically. Further north, the Iraqi government said it had recaptured the citadel in the strategic town of Tal Afar, where militants were said to have taken control on Monday.
Four army commanders were dismissed because they did not perform "their national duty", a government statement said. Using unusually strong language, Mr Maliki accused Saudi Arabia - which is largely Sunni - of backing ISIS.
Mr Maliki and other senior figures of his Shia government were joined by Sunni leaders in a call for "national unity", after talks in Baghdad. He also fired four army commanders for failing to halt the sweeping advance by the militants. They included the top commander for Nineveh, the first province where ISIS fighters made major gains.
They urged Iraqis to avoid sectarian grievances and said individuals with no official state function were banned from carrying weapons.
The militants, led by the ISIS, took control of the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit in a rapid advance last week, and Tal Afar on Monday.
They also briefly captured parts of Baquba before government troops and allied Shia militia pushed them back on Tuesday.
Qasem Suleimani, the commander of an elite unit of Iran's revolutionary guards, is reported to be in Baghdad, helping military and Shia leaders co-ordinate their campaign against the rebels.
Analysis: John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor, BaghdadAnalysis: John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor, Baghdad
Many Sunnis, particularly the conservative ones who started turning against al-Qaeda eight years ago, and enabled the US forces to leave Iraq with what seemed at the time to be dignity, are not at all happy that ISIS should control their towns and villages.Many Sunnis, particularly the conservative ones who started turning against al-Qaeda eight years ago, and enabled the US forces to leave Iraq with what seemed at the time to be dignity, are not at all happy that ISIS should control their towns and villages.
But the danger of the present fight-back by Shia volunteers is that they will victimise ordinary Sunnis, and make them feel that ISIS is the only group that can protect them.But the danger of the present fight-back by Shia volunteers is that they will victimise ordinary Sunnis, and make them feel that ISIS is the only group that can protect them.
In other words, this has the potential to turn into a clear-cut religious war, with the possibility of mass "cleansing" of civilians and brutality on a large scale.In other words, this has the potential to turn into a clear-cut religious war, with the possibility of mass "cleansing" of civilians and brutality on a large scale.
Court martial Militants attacked the Baiji refinery, north of Baghdad, with mortars and machine-guns on Wednesday, officials said.
The Iraqi officers fired on Tuesday include the top commander for Nineveh, the first province where ISIS fighters made major gains. Foreign personnel were evacuated earlier but local staff reportedly remain in place, with the military defending the facility.
With Shia areas of the capital bombed almost daily, correspondents say inhabitants of Baghdad have developed a siege mentality.
People with enough money have started to stockpile essential items of food, correspondents say, which has increased prices dramatically.
In other developments:In other developments:
ISIS in IraqISIS in Iraq
ISIS grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in IraqISIS grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq
Iraq 'massacre' photos: What we knowIraq 'massacre' photos: What we know