Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Advancing Iraq rebels seize northwest town in heavy battle
• U.S. preparing for dialogue with Iran on Iraq security -report
• Security beefed up at US embassy in Baghdad
• Militants post photos of mass killing in Iraq
• U.S. bolsters Baghdad embassy security, orders some staff evacuated
• US condemns 'horrifying' massacre in Iraq's Tikrit
• Biden to meet Central America leaders about child migrant wave
• Enhanced U.S. security for Baghdad embassy includes fewer than 100 soldiers
• US to evacuate Baghdad embassy staff
• US condemns 'horrifying' massacre in Tikrit
• Pentagon intensifies U.S. diplomatic security in Baghdad
• Obama longs to break out of White House bubble
• US to boost security at embassy in Iraq
• Obama’s Iraq dilemma: Whether to rejoin a war he said was 'dumb'
• Could Hillary Clinton Have Prevented the Crisis in Iraq?
• Could Hillary Clinton Have Prevented the Iraq Crisis?
• What We Know About Iraq Right Now
• U.S. Senator Graham says Iran's help needed to avoid collapse in Iraq
• Insurgents overrun northwestern Iraqi town: witnesses
• Syria activists brave war to watch World Cup
• Militants post images of mass killing in Iraq
• US lawmakers warn of 'next 9/11' threat in Iraq
• Rise of Shiite militias poses a threat to Iraq
• Pakistani Shiites protest against ban on Iran road travel
• Brahimi says world neglect of Syria behind Iraq unrest
• Fed in focus as investors seek reassurance
• Rep. Michael McCaul Hits Obama on Iraq Response
• Inca trails, ancient French cave vie for World Heritage status
• Mosul governor urges US air strikes on militants
• For Obama, fresh questions about how wars end
• Iran warns against military intervention in Iraq
• Iran Hawk Lindsey Graham Says We Need to Work With Iran to Fix Iraq
• US aircraft carrier welcomes PLA aboard, seeks return invite
• Shelling kills 10 in north Iraq town
• Iranian veil site gets half million 'likes' and state TV rebuke
• Work with Iran uncomfortable, needed, senator says
• Syrian army crushes rebel push near Turkish border
• How vets help vets conquer the after-war
• Democrats Celebrated Flag Day By Tweeting Out Non-American Flag
• Syria pounds ISIL bases in coordination with Iraq: NGO

Advancing Iraq rebels seize northwest town in heavy battle Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:53 PM PDT By Ziad al-Sanjary and Ahmed Rasheed MOSUL/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni insurgents seized a mainly ethnic Turkmen city in northwestern Iraq on Sunday after heavy fighting, solidifying their grip on the north after a lightning offensive that threatens to dismember Iraq. Residents reached by telephone in the city of Tal Afar said it had fallen to the rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after a battle that saw heavy casualties on both sides. Tal Afar is a short drive west from Mosul, the north's main city, which the ISIL fighters seized last week at the start of a drive that has plunged the country into the worst crisis since U.S. troops withdrew. The advance has alarmed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite supporters in Iran as well as the United States, which helped bring Maliki to power after its 2003 invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

U.S. preparing for dialogue with Iran on Iraq security -report Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:53 PM PDT The United States is preparing to open a direct dialogue with longtime adversary Iran on security in Iraq and ways to push back Sunni militants who have taken over large areas of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.Citing senior U.S. officials, the newspaper said the dialogue was expected to begin this week. It comes as the United States and other world powers strive for an agreement with Tehran to curb its nuclear program. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group have swept through towns in the Tigris valley north of Baghdad in recent days but appeared to have halted their advance outside the capital on Sunday as they tightened their grip on the north. U.S. officials said it was not certain which diplomatic channel the Obama administration would use to discuss Iraq, the Journal reported.

Security beefed up at US embassy in Baghdad Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Security at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was bolstered and some staff members were being moved out of Iraq's capital city as it was threatened by the advance of by an al-Qaida inspired insurgency, a State Department spokeswoman said Sunday.

Militants post photos of mass killing in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:14 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The Islamic militants who overran cities and towns in Iraq last week posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers, while the prime minister vowed Sunday to "liberate every inch" of captured territory.

U.S. bolsters Baghdad embassy security, orders some staff evacuated Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:08 PM PDT By Missy Ryan and Jim Loney WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States ordered military personnel to boost security for its diplomatic staff in Baghdad on Sunday and said some staff were being evacuated from the embassy as the Iraqi government battled to hold off insurgent forces. "A small number of DOD (Department of Defense) personnel are augmenting State Department security assets in Baghdad to help ensure the safety of our facilities," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. Separately, the State Department said it was evacuating some staff from the embassy and beefing up security at the sprawling facility. "Some additional U.S. government security personnel will be added to the staff in Baghdad;

US condemns 'horrifying' massacre in Iraq's Tikrit Posted: 15 Jun 2014 03:57 PM PDT The United States condemned Sunday a "horrifying" massacre by militants said to have killed hundreds of Iraqi Shia air force recruits in the northern city of Tikrit, urging the country to unite. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have overrun a succession of major towns and cities in the north of Iraq over the last week and are closing on Baghdad. "The claim by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that it has massacred 1,700 Iraqi Shia air force recruits in Tikrit is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that these terrorists represent," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. The latest figure adds to the half a million people the IOM estimates fled Iraq's second city, Mosul, after it was overrun Tuesday.

Biden to meet Central America leaders about child migrant wave Posted: 15 Jun 2014 03:37 PM PDT By Jeff Mason RANCHO MIRAGE Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will go to Guatemala on Friday to meet Central American leaders about the influx of unaccompanied minors illegally entering the United States, senior administration officials said on Sunday. Biden is adding the stop to an already scheduled trip to Brazil, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Biden will meet the presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador as well as a senior government official from Honduras to follow up on the Obama administration's efforts to discourage parents in those countries from sending their children on dangerous trips to the United States. Between October and May, more than 47,000 unaccompanied minors, mostly from Central America, have crossed into the United States, nearly double the number in the previous 12 months, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a news conference in Washington last week.

Enhanced U.S. security for Baghdad embassy includes fewer than 100 soldiers Posted: 15 Jun 2014 03:06 PM PDT Expanded military support for security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will include fewer than 100 soldiers, a U.S. official said on Sunday. The enhanced security personnel will include Marines and other soldiers, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity, shortly after the Obama administration said it would move some embassy staff out of Baghdad and order the military to bolster security at its diplomatic facilities in the Iraqi capital.

US to evacuate Baghdad embassy staff Posted: 15 Jun 2014 03:05 PM PDT The US embassy in Baghdad is evacuating personnel and increasing military security after militants captured vast swathes of territory and advanced toward the capital, officials said Sunday. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the staff would only be "temporarily relocated" to US consulates in Basra in the south and Arbil in the northern Kurdish territories. Neither area is currently threatened by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Department of Defense spokesman, said a "small number of DOD personnel are augmenting State Department security assets in Baghdad to help ensure the safety of our facilities."

US condemns 'horrifying' massacre in Tikrit Posted: 15 Jun 2014 02:52 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - The United States condemned Sunday a "horrifying" massacre by militants said to have killed 1,700 Iraqi Shia air force recruits in the northern city of Tikrit, urging the country to unite against the threat.

Pentagon intensifies U.S. diplomatic security in Baghdad Posted: 15 Jun 2014 02:18 PM PDT The U.S. military is providing intensified security for U.S. diplomatic facilities in Baghdad, the Pentagon said on Sunday, as the Iraqi government sought to repel a stunning advance by Islamist militants who have seized several Iraqi cities. "A small number of (Defense Department) personnel are augmenting State Department security assets in Baghdad to help ensure the safety of our facilities," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement. Earlier on Sunday, the State Department said it would move some workers out of the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to other U.S. diplomatic facilities inside and outside of Iraq.

Obama longs to break out of White House bubble Posted: 15 Jun 2014 02:15 PM PDT RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — It's perhaps appropriate that President Barack Obama is vacationing this weekend in California, where the state flag features a roaming grizzly.

US to boost security at embassy in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 01:51 PM PDT The US embassy in Baghdad plans to increase security staff and evacuate some personnel after militants captured vast swathes of territory and advanced toward the capital, officials said Sunday. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the staff would only be "temporarily relocated" to US consulates in Basra in the south and Erbil in the northern Kurdish territories. Neither area is currently threatened by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants. "The Embassy of the United States in Baghdad remains open and will continue to engage daily with Iraqis and their elected leaders -- supporting them as they strengthen Iraq's constitutional processes and defend themselves from imminent threats," Psaki said in a statement.

Obama’s Iraq dilemma: Whether to rejoin a war he said was 'dumb' Posted: 15 Jun 2014 01:42 PM PDT As a young state senator from Illinois in 2002, Barack Obama was harshly critical of what looked like an impending US-led invasion of Iraq. Speaking to an anti-war rally on the day Congress authorized war in Iraq, Obama called that prospect "dumb" and "rash." "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in [the Bush] administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne," he said. "What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

Could Hillary Clinton Have Prevented the Crisis in Iraq? Posted: 15 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came under fire from Republicans Sunday for her failure to recognize the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a threat during her tenure. "This administration has repeatedly underestimated the threat," former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on NBC's Meet the Press. "Consider what's happened around the world when she was Secretary of State." On Friday, Clinton sided with the White House, saying that the American military should not get involved, and that the problems in Iraq are political.

Could Hillary Clinton Have Prevented the Iraq Crisis? Posted: 15 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came under fire from Republicans Sunday for her failure to recognize the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a threat during her tenure.  "This administration has repeatedly underestimated the threat," former GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Romney called Clinton's time a State a "monumental bust." "Consider what's happened around the world when she was Secretary of State."  On Friday, Clinton sided with the White House, saying that the American military should not get involved, and that the problems in Iraq are political.

What We Know About Iraq Right Now Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:58 PM PDT Iraq Begins to Fight Back Against ISIS; U.S. Will Not Send Troops

U.S. Senator Graham says Iran's help needed to avoid collapse in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:45 PM PDT By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States needs Iran's involvement to prevent a collapse of the government in Iraq and should open talks toward that end, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday, describing the step as unattractive but perhaps unavoidable. "We are probably going to need their help to hold Baghdad," from takeover by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Sunni Muslim militant group that has seized control over northern Iraqi cities and is approaching the nation's capital, Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "The Iranians have an interest. We need a dialogue of some kind," to help stabilize Iraq but also to set limits to ensure Iran does not use the situation to seize territory, he said.

Insurgents overrun northwestern Iraqi town: witnesses Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:44 PM PDT MOSUL Iraq (Reuters) - - Insurgents overran the northwestern Iraqi town of Tal Afar on Sunday, witnesses in the town said by telephone. Several people in the town reached by telephone said militants from the Sunni Arab group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant had attacked it and taken control after fighting with security forces. (Writing by Peter Graff)

Syria activists brave war to watch World Cup Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:24 PM PDT Young Syrian opposition activists living with the constant dangers of more than three years at war are braving bombardment by government forces and jihadists' threats to watch their favourite World Cup teams. In Raqa province, controlled by powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), one young activist and avid football fan risked the extremists' anger to sneak out to watch Spain play the Netherlands. "Members of ISIL raided the cafeterias on the first day of the World Cup, and forced the young people to go pray," said the activist who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim. So I watched Friday evening's match, Spain-Netherlands, at a friend's house.

Militants post images of mass killing in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:06 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — As the Iraqi government bolstered Baghdad's defenses Sunday, the Islamic militant group that captured two major cities last week posted graphic photos that appeared to show its fighters massacring dozens of captured Iraqi soldiers.

US lawmakers warn of 'next 9/11' threat in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:50 AM PDT US President Barack Obama came under fire Sunday from Republican lawmakers and others who warned that a debacle in Iraq will give Islamist extremists a staging area for "the next 9/11." Senator Lindsey Graham, a proponent of US air strikes, also called for the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and direct US engagement with Iran on the crisis set off this week by a lightning offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group. Retired military officers questioned whether air strikes were a viable near-term option with no US forces on the ground to provide precise targeting data. But they and a former US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, stressed the urgent need for high-level US diplomacy to drive Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds toward a political solution.

Rise of Shiite militias poses a threat to Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:26 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Emboldened by a call to arms by the top Shiite cleric, Iranian-backed militias have moved quickly to the center of Iraq's political landscape, spearheading what its Shiite majority sees as a fight for survival against Sunni militants who control of large swaths of territory north of Baghdad.

Pakistani Shiites protest against ban on Iran road travel Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:24 AM PDT Hundreds of protesters from Pakistan's minority Shiite Hazara community on Sunday staged a demonstration in the southwestern city of Quetta against a government ban on road travel to Iran where they go for pilgrimage. They also called for better security for pilgrims travelling to the holy sites in Iran and Iraq via Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, which borders Iran. Pakistan imposed a ban on road trips to Iran after four suicide bombers struck two restaurants in the remote town of Taftan near the Iranian border last week, killing 24 pilgrims who were returning home.

Brahimi says world neglect of Syria behind Iraq unrest Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:17 AM PDT The unrest sweeping Iraq is a direct result of the world's indifference to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, former peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told AFP in an interview on Sunday. Jihadist-led militants launched an offensive six days ago and swiftly advanced to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Baghdad's city limits, bringing Iraq's security forces to the brink of collapse. Brahimi, who resigned in May as the UN-Arab League mediator for Syria, said the international community's inaction on the conflict in Syria had precipitated the crisis in Iraq.

Fed in focus as investors seek reassurance Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:13 AM PDT By Paul Day MADRID (Reuters) - Investors will look to the Federal Reserve for reassurance in the coming week, with little economic data to assuage their concerns over the strength of the global recovery, amid signs Iraq may be sliding into civil war. The Fed, which wraps up a policy meeting on Wednesday, is expected to keep steadily reducing its massive bond-buying stimulus by $10 billion per month. Financial markets will be listening out for any hints on when the U.S. central bank might begin raising interest rates. "The Federal Reserve is preparing to move to the second step of the monetary policy exit.

Rep. Michael McCaul Hits Obama on Iraq Response Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:11 AM PDT House Homeland Security Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, criticized the Obama administration for its deliberate response to the escalating crisis in Iraq, while calling the threat from the extremist group ISIS overrunning the country "one of the biggest threats" to the United States. "This...

Inca trails, ancient French cave vie for World Heritage status Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:04 AM PDT Inca trails spanning six countries and a French cave with some of the earliest known paintings are among the sites expected to get World Heritage status at a UNESCO meeting that started Sunday in Doha. Altogether at least 30 natural and cultural sites, including the Arbil Citadel in Iraq's Kurdistan, are vying to get the United Nations cultural body's prestigious distinction and add their names to an already 981-strong list. The June 15-25 World Heritage Committee gathering will also mull whether to put London's Westminster Palace on its list of endangered sites. And, in a first for a developed country, Australia is asking that large swathes of its Tasmanian Wilderness -- one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world -- be delisted to make way for loggers.

Mosul governor urges US air strikes on militants Posted: 15 Jun 2014 10:14 AM PDT The exiled governor of Mosul, Iraq's second city which was seized by Islamist fighters last week, has called for US and Turkish air strikes against the militants. "Air strikes might be conducted, not in the cities but on (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) ISIL bases in uninhabited areas," Atil al-Nujaifi said in comments published Sunday in Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. His comments came as Washington deployed an aircraft carrier to the Gulf and Baghdad launched a counter-offensive against extremist Sunni militants who have overrun all of one Iraqi province and chunks of three more since launching their offensive last Monday. Speaking from Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, Nujaifi said he doubted Baghdad's security forces -- some of whom abandoned their uniforms and vehicles when ISIL fighters attacked -- would be able to repel the militant advance on their own.

For Obama, fresh questions about how wars end Posted: 15 Jun 2014 10:13 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — From the Rose Garden, President Barack Obama outlined a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the last U.S. troops in Afghanistan and said confidently, "This is how wars end in the 21st century."

Iran warns against military intervention in Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 10:11 AM PDT Iran warned on Sunday that "any foreign military intervention in Iraq" would only complicate the crisis, after the United States said it was deploying a warship in the Gulf. "Iraq has the capacity and necessary preparations for the fight against terrorism and extremism," foreign ministry spokesman Marzieh Afkham was Sunday quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. "Any action that complicates the situation in Iraq is not in the interests of the country nor of the region," Afkham said, adding: "The people and government of Iraq will be able to neutralise this conspiracy." Iraq is battling an offensive by Sunni militants who have advanced to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Baghdad's city limits after seizing a swathe of the country's north.

Iran Hawk Lindsey Graham Says We Need to Work With Iran to Fix Iraq Posted: 15 Jun 2014 09:44 AM PDT Sen. Lindsey Graham shocked and confused many by imploring the United States to work with Iran to stabilize Iraq. Just last year, Graham pushed for a resolution authorizing war against Iran if it didn't give up its nuclear program.  Making the rounds on the Sunday shows, Graham, one-third of the notoriously hawkish/bygone "Three Amigos," compared working with Iran to American cooperation with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during World War II. He added this: And here's what Graham, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, said about Iran in late November as the United States successfully concluded negotiating a temporary deal with Iranians on its nuclear program:

US aircraft carrier welcomes PLA aboard, seeks return invite Posted: 15 Jun 2014 09:40 AM PDT The US Navy on Sunday welcomed four members of China's military aboard one of its aircraft carriers -- and said it hoped to receive a return invite someday. The four People's Liberation Army members were among guests flown by a C-2 Greyhound aircraft to the USS George Washington for a "VIP visit" before it berths Monday off Hong Kong on a routine call. Tensions are high in the South China Sea and East China Sea as Beijing asserts its sovereignty over reefs and islands also claimed by US allies such as Japan and the Philippines. But Rear Admiral Mark C. Montgomery, commander of the task force headed by the carrier, said US-Chinese military relations have "moderately improved" in the past six months.

Shelling kills 10 in north Iraq town Posted: 15 Jun 2014 09:28 AM PDT Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Shelling targeting the largest town not seized by militants in a north Iraq province killed 10 people on Sunday, police and a local official said. The shelling in Tal Afar, a Shiite Turkmen town that is one of the few in Nineveh province not overrun by a major militant offensive, also wounded 40 people, the sources said. Militants unleashed a major offensive, spearheaded by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but also including supporters of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and other groups, overrunning Nineveh province and seizing major parts of three others. The offensive began in Nineveh's capital Mosul late on Monday, and later swept into Kirkuk, Salaheddin and Diyala provinces.

Iranian veil site gets half million 'likes' and state TV rebuke Posted: 15 Jun 2014 09:09 AM PDT By Robin Pomeroy LONDON (Reuters) - When Masih Alinejad posted a picture of herself online jumping in the air in a sunny, tree-lined London street, the journalist hoped to cheer up readers weary of her stories of grim human rights cases in her native Iran. She did not expect what followed: a Facebook phenomenon that gained half a million followers in a month and scathing, personal criticism by Iranian state television, accusing her of drug addiction, perversion and insanity. Inspired by Alinejad's photo, taken in a public place with her hair showing without the Islamic veil that is obligatory in Iran, thousands of women inside Iran uploaded their own self-portraits to a page she hastily set up and called: "My Stealthy Freedom".

Work with Iran uncomfortable, needed, senator says Posted: 15 Jun 2014 08:59 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee says Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (NOO'-ree ahl-MAHL'-ih-kee) cannot keep his country together, and a U.S. alliance with Iran might be needed to do so.

Syrian army crushes rebel push near Turkish border Posted: 15 Jun 2014 08:48 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Government forces flushed opposition fighters from their last redoubts in northwestern Syria near the Turkish frontier on Sunday, capturing two villages and restoring government control over the border crossing, activists and state media said.

How vets help vets conquer the after-war Posted: 15 Jun 2014 08:42 AM PDT Todd Kuikka and his team of bomb technicians drove into downtown Kirkuk to secure the area and aid the wounded. He lives among fellow veterans in Sauk Centre, a small town in the land of lakes and Sinclair Lewis in central Minnesota, far from the battlefield but close to those who hear its undying echoes. He knows that here at Eagle's Healing Nest, a nonprofit transitional home for retired service members, he can talk to others who have returned to America yet remain lost inside the country's 21st-century wars. "There's mutual understanding because of our parallel experiences," says Kuikka, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the fallout of three tours in Iraq and two more in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2010.

Democrats Celebrated Flag Day By Tweeting Out Non-American Flag Posted: 15 Jun 2014 08:18 AM PDT Flag Day is a special day for people around the country to celebrate the Star-Spangled Banner as the emblem of the country that they call home — except apparently for the Democratic Party of America.

Syria pounds ISIL bases in coordination with Iraq: NGO Posted: 15 Jun 2014 07:53 AM PDT Syria's army has been pounding for 24 hours major bases of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in coordination with the Baghdad government, a monitor said Sunday. The strikes against ISIL -- which has spearheaded a week-long jihadist offensive in Iraq -- have been more intense than ever, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The regime air force has been pounding ISIL's bases, including those in the northern province of Raqa and Hasakeh in the northeast," which borders Iraq, said the Britain-based group. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad was responding to the fact that ISIL "brought into Syria heavy weapons including tanks" captured from the Iraqi army.

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