Intense clashes are going on between Iraqi army forces and ISIL militants in Mosul and Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, as the army is making progress to retake occupied areas.

A state of emergency was declared in Iraq by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday after ISIL militants attacked and occupied the oil-rich city of Mosul.

According to Al-Alam reporter, the airport and governor’s office in Mosul have been retaken by the army on Wednesday.

In Kirkuk, heavy clashes were reported in the Wadi al-Naft region.

At least 15 Iraqi soldiers who were held captive by ISIL radicals, have been executed in al-Abbasi region of Kirkuk, the reporter said.

The provincial council of Kirkuk announced that it is ready to protect families fleeing the violence.

Iraqi police and army forces abandoned their posts in Mosul after militants overran the provincial government headquarters and other key buildings.

Maliki's State of Law coalition has blamed Osama al-Nujaifi, Iraq's parliamentary speaker, and his brother Atheel al-Nujaifi who is the governor of Ninevah, for ‘handing over’ the province to ISIL militants.

The Iraqi parliament speaker has held the army responsible for fall of Mosul.

Iraq has been grappling with its worst surge in violence since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006 and 2007.

ISIL insurgents and their allies remain in control of Fallujah and other parts of Anbar province, which neighbors Ninevah province and like it shares a long and loosely controlled border with Syria.

The militants have also managed to launch frequent coordinated attacks in the capital, Baghdad, and in other parts of the country.

SHI/SHI