The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has captured another Iraqi city after seizing northern Mosul province on Tuesday, as the group threatens to cement control in central Iraq.
The city of Tikrit, hometown of late president Saddam Hussein, fell to ISIL militants Wednesday afternoon, in less than 48 hours after the capture of Mosul, Iraq’s second city.
Tikrit, within Salahuddin province, is only 140 km away from capital Baghdad.
Meanwhile, violence continued in other cities as eleven people were killed in separate incidents in capital Baghdad and Anbar province.
Eyewitnesses told The Anadolu Agency that ISILmilitants “took over Tikrit in only a few minutes.” They said ISIL militants started firing into the air and broke into the state university.
The private Salahuddin television channel, based in Tikrit, stopped broadcasting.