On Wednesday, Iraqi forces, aided by tribal residents, regained the control of al-Multaqa from the ISIL militants.

Meanwhile, reports also say that Iraqi security sources have pushed back the militants trying to capture the town of Baiji, which is the site of a major oil refinery in Iraq’s Salaheddin Province.

On Tuesday, the Takfiri militants seized several areas in Iraq’s Kirkuk following the capture of the neighboring Nineveh Province. The violence in Iraq’s Nineveh has forced over half a million Iraqis to flee their homes.

The ISIL’s capture of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, “displaced over 500,000 people in and around the city,” the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday, adding that the violence “has resulted in a high number of casualties among civilians.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked the UN, the European Union, and the Arab League to help the country fight the terrorists.

Violence has also been raging elsewhere in the country with bombings and shootings across the country. Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said that militants have launched an open war in Iraq with the aim of pushing the Middle Eastern country into chaos.

SHI/SHI