Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms while Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns.
The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east, and threatened to march south.
The UN says hundreds have been killed – with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.
Both the US and Iran have promised to help the fight against the insurgency.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama said Americans “will do our part” to help Iraq confront the Islamic insurgents rampaging through that country.
“We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq,” Obama said, but he and his national security advisers “will be reviewing other options.”
The president, speaking from the White House grounds, said he and his team have been meeting since yesterday to address how to help Iraq turn back the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which he said threatens not only Iraq and the Middle East but possibly American interests as well.
