In A Series Of Coordinated Attacks Al Qaeda Has Seized Iraq's Second-Largest City And The Provice Of Nineveh. In Response Iraq Has Declared A State Of Emergency

BBC

Rebels Seize Control Of Iraq's Nineveh -- Al Jazeera

Northern province falls to ISIL fighters, who are said to have released up to 1,400 prisoners from Mosul city's jails.

Armed fighters believed to be part of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have seized the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh and freed hundreds of prisoners, government officials say.

Overnight, hundreds of rebels launched an assault on the provincial capital Mosul, 350km north of Baghdad, engaging in combat with troops and police, the officials said on Tuesday.

"The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an Interior Ministry official told the AFP news agency, making it the second city to fall to anti-government forces this year.

In a related development, Turkish media reported that 28 Turkish lorry drivers were also taken hostage by the ISIL fighters in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

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More News On The Iraq Government Declaring A State Of Emergency In Mosul After It's Capture By Al Qaeda Militants

State of emergency: ISIL militants overrun Iraq city of 1.8mn, free 2,500 prisoners -- RT
Militants seize Iraq's second-largest city -- AFP
Militants seize provincial HQ in Iraqi city Mosul -- AP
Insurgents in Iraq overrun Mosul provincial government headquarters -- Reuters
Al-Qaeda seizes Iraq's third-largest city as terrified residents flee -- The Telegraph
Iraq militants 'control second city of Mosul' -- BBC
Iraqi city of Mosul falls to jihadists -- CBS/AP
Insurgents seize Iraqi city of Mosul as troops flee -- Washington Post
Militants Seize Provincial Headquarters in Iraq's 2nd Largest City -- VOA
Militants tighten grip on Iraq’s Mosul -- France 24
Sunni insurgents seize control of Iraq's second largest city -- The Guardian
Islamic Militants Take Control Of Iraq's Mosul -- Radio Free Europe
Iraq’s prime minister asks parliament to declare a state of emergency over Mosul attack -- Washington Post
Iraq declares state of emergency in Mosul -- Al Arabiya
Iraq declares state of emergency after insurgents take Mosul -- Al Jazeera

My Comment: This is a shocking victory for Al Qaeda in Iraq (ISIL) that brings Iraq even closer to an all-out civil war. What is worrisome about Mosul is that the Iraq army essentially dropped their weapons and abandoned their posts. If the Iraqi army starts to disintegrate .... the consequences of a sectarian civil war becomes all the more real.