Have regained some territory from jihadists, says Iraq

In a visit to Samarra, a major town in ISIL’s sights 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to defeat the rebels who caused international shock waves when they overran the Sunni northwest of Iraq earlier this week.

The dramatic territorial surge by ISIL, putting demoralized and disorganized army contingents to flight, have alarmed both Maliki’s Shia supporters in Iran and in the United States, which helped bring him to power after its 2003 invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. Oil prices have jumped over fears of ISIL disrupting exports from Opec member Iraq. But the ISIL juggernaut appeared to lose momentum on Saturday with the Iraqi military saying it was now holding back the jihadist rebels and also, with the help of Shia militia, clawing back some territory.

‘Our security forces have regained the initiative to launch qualitative operations on various fronts over the past three days and have achieved remarkable victories with the help of volunteers,’ said Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi military’s commander in chief.

‘We have regained the initiative and will not stop at liberating Mosul from ISIL terrorists, but all other parts,’ he said, mentioning Iraq’s second main city in the far north seized by the insurgents on Monday.