"A resolute response by the Iraqi authorities is urgent and necessary, but only provides part of the solution,” said the office of French President Francois Hollande in a statement issued on Thursday.

“It should be political in order to be sustainable and to receive the support of the United Nations Security Council," it added.

Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence unprecedented in recent years.

On June 10, the ISIL militants took control of the Nineveh provincial capital, Mosul. They later took control of the city of Tikrit, located some 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced out of their homes since then.

    "The offensive carried out by the terrorist group…compromises the unity of Iraq and creates new threats for the stability and the security of the whole region," the statement said.

Iraqi armed forces have managed to regain control of the Abu Tayban region in the central city of Ramadi and almost all parts of the strategic town of Tal Afar in Nineveh Province.

Iraqi soldiers have also regained control of the Baiji oil refinery in the strategic Salahuddin Province after the ISIL militants attacked the oil facility earlier this week.

The ISIL militants have vowed to continue their raid towards Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of Mosul a “conspiracy." Maliki has also blamed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, and denounced the Al Saud regime as a major supporter of global terrorism.

BA/BA