By Isra' al-Rubei'i BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces were massing north of Baghdad on Friday, aiming to strike back at Sunni Islamists whose drive toward the capital prompted the United States to send military advisers to stiffen government resistance. Iraq's senior Shi'ite religious cleric issued a call for unity, saying Shi'ites and Sunnis should rally behind the authorities to prevent the Sunni militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from destroying the country. Already, ISIL has started to enact its puritanical vision of Islam in Mosul, which it captured 10 days ago as it swept across northern Iraq. Mosul residents said ISIL members had destroyed symbols of Iraq's rich heritage, razing statues of cultural icons and the tomb of a Mediaeval philosopher.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraqi-forces-ready-push-obama-offers-advisers-083040471.html

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2014 at 1:48 pm and is filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.