Iraq disintegrates as Obama rules out sending in troops

President Barack Obama has called on Iraq to address the insurgency and increase its effort to address sectarian differences.

Confirming that the US will not send combat troops back into Iraq, the president said that any sort of military action would be contingent on significant involvement by Iraq itself.

“The United States is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us assurance that they are prepared to work together,” he said.

Instead he confirmed that he had asked his national security team to explore “a range of other options” that will be reviewed in the coming days.

Mr Obama said the risk posed by terrorists in Iraq could eventually pose a threat to US interests, adding that the White House would pursue diplomatic solutions in Iraq and the surrounding region.

Above: an Isis militant stands guard at a checkpoint in Mosul (picture: Reuters)

Siege continues

He was reacting after an al Qaida-inspired group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, captured a series of northern cities and threatened to press forward to Baghdad.

Security sources said the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the insurgents as well as several villages in the Himreen mountains.

Diyala borders Iran, and on Friday it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that Iran had deployed elite troops to help the Iraqi government fight the rebel group. Iran, like Iraq, is governed by Shia Muslims – the rebels are Sunni.

I don’t feel safe at all. I fear Isis, they might kill me for any reason. Mosul resident

Isis overran Iraq’s second city Mosul earlier this week, and since then have made gains across the north of the country.

Adding to the problems for the Iraqi government is that it appears Kurdish forces are using the unrest to expand their territory in Iraq. Peshmarga forces have taken control of the oil-rich of Kirkuk and other areas outside the formal boundary of their enclave.

Iraqi army helicopters fired rockets on one of the largest Sunni mosques in Tikrit the hometown of late dictator Saddam Hussein, local officials said.

In Saadiyah and Jalawla it was reported that the Iraqi army shelled the towns, forcing families to flee. Kurdish forces deployed more men to secure their political party offices in Jalawla before Isis arrived – though it is understood that there have been no confrontations between Isis and the Kurds.

The advance has been a crisis for the Iraqi government, with its control pushed back to central and southern areas of the country. Iraqi planes were reported to have been targeting Isis positions in Mosul on Thursday. Social media including Facebook and Twitter has reportedly been shut off in Baghdad.

Human rights fears

Isis social media accounts were also reported to be boasting of executing 1,700 Shia soldiers who surrendered in Tikrit. Sunni soldiers were said to have been pardoned.

#Facebook, #Twitter and #YouTube are blocked in #Baghdad pic.twitter.com/Y2JU5NlOY9

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) June 13, 2014

So out of control. ISIS accounts say they executed 1700 Shiite soldiers of #Iraq army who surrendered in Tikrit. 2500Sunni soldiers pardoned

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) June 13, 2014

Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the advances of Isis – saying it has documented a number of crimes commited by the group against civilians including summary executions, torute, discrimination against women and destruction of religious property.

“The possibility that ISIS will repeat the atrocities it has committed in other parts of Iraq, and impose the same intolerant and abusive rule as it has in Syria, is deeply troubling,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“But the Iraqi government needs to deal with the situation without the brutal tactics for which civilians elsewhere in the country have long been paying a heavy price.”

The charity spoke to one Mosul resident, who said: “I don’t feel safe at all. I fear Isis, they might kill me for any reason: because I worked as a government employee … if they notice that I don’t go to the mosque and pray as they want everyone to, [or] if my beard isn’t long enough.”