According to Al-Aalm correspondent, hundreds of radical militants from the so-called ISLI terrorist group have retreated from Mosul, due to the heavy defeat they faced by the Iraqi army airforce.

Mosul was overrun on Tuesday by foreign backed terrorists of so-called ISLI militants who have since tolerated lots of heavy defeats.

This is while Iraq's ambassador to France called on the U.N. Security Council to approve extra military aid for Baghdad, including air and drone support, when it meets in New York later on Thursday.

"We need equipment, extra aviation and drones," Fareed  Yasseen said when asked on France Inter radio what Iraq wanted from the Council.

"It must support Iraq because what is happening is not just a threat for Iraq but the entire region."

Yasseen said as far as he knew the Iraqi government had not yet asked the United States to launch air strikes on ISIL militants who reportedly appeared to be marching towards Baghdad.

"The U.S. will only launch airstrikes if the Iraqi government asks them to, and if that happens it means it was necessary," he said.

He said it appeared the terrorist groups’ advance had been stalled and Iraqi special forces were now stabilizing the situation north of the capital.

"What I have heard is their advance has been stopped. Special forces have been deployed and are playing their role. They have secured Samarra and the big Baiji refinery. These two regions are stabilized."

France's foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told reporters Paris was consulting with regional and international powers on the situation in Iraq and would confer with its allies at the Security Council on Thursday.

NJF/NJF