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June 12, 2014

Iraq Faces Disintegration as Militants Seize More Towns 
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Iraq is in crisis as Sunni militants seize more towns and now set their
sights on the capital Baghdad. In the past few days, al-Qaeda-linked
rebels have seized control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, as well
as Tikrit and Dhuluiya. Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds have seized control of
the northern oil city of Kirkuk. The Sunni militants now control a
territory that stretches from the eastern edge of Aleppo, Syria, to
Fallujah in western Iraq and now the northern city of Mosul. Their
advance has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing some 500,000
people in Mosul alone. Mosul fell in part because U.S.-trained Iraqi
forces abandoned their posts. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has
reportedly urged the U.S. to carry out airstrikes in recent months, but
the Obama administration has declined the request so far. We'll have
more on the crisis in Iraq after headlines.