BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of residents are fleeing Tal Afar (tahl AH’-fur) in northern Iraq after Sunni militants captured the city today.
Tal Afar is a key prize for the militants, as they try to link areas under their control on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border. It is strategically located on the main highway between the border and Mosul, which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured last week.
Tal Afar’s population of 200,000 is dominated by ethnic Turkomen, who are both Sunni and Shiite. That’s raising fears of new atrocities by Islamic State fighters, who brand Shiites as heretics.
Iraqi security officials say U.S. aircraft have been flying reconnaissance missions over Iraq in recent days to gather intelligence on where the militants are.
Secretary of State John Kerry says American drone strikes are an option, in the effort to stop the dramatic sweep by the insurgents. He also told Yahoo! News that the Obama administration is willing to talk with Iran about how to stop the rampage.
Already, the commander of an elite Iranian force is in Iraq, consulting with officials there.
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206-a-11-(David Schenker, a former top Pentagon official on the Levant and now director, Program on Arab Politics, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in AP interview)-“the Maliki administration”-David Schenker, a former top Pentagon official on the Levant and now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says involving Iran in the Iraq situation would play into the hands of the insurgency known as ISIL — the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ((ISIL is pronounced EYE’-sihl)) (16 Jun 2014)
< 212-a-10-(Jacqueline Parleviet (JAK’-eh-leen PAR’-leh-veet), protection coordinator, U.N. refugee agency, in interview)-“numbers are great”-Jacqueline Parleviet of the U.N.’s refugee agency says they’re doing their best to help many refugees who are suffering in heat that’s topped 100 degrees, including families with very young children. COURTESY: Sky News ((mandatory on-air credit)) (16 Jun 2014) < APPHOTO BAG122: Demonstrators chant pro-al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant slogans as they wave al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 16, 2014. Sunni militants captured a key northern Iraqi town along the highway to Syria early on Monday, compounding the woes of Iraq’s Shiite-led government a week after it lost a vast swath of territory to the insurgents in the country’s north. (AP Photo) (16 Jun 2014) < Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.