Iraq Civil War News Updates -- June 20, 2014

Iraqi Forces Ready Push After Obama Offers Advisers -- Reuters

(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.

President Barack Obama offered up to 300 Americans to help coordinate the fight. But he held off granting a request for air strikes from the Shi'ite-led government and renewed a call for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to do more to overcome sectarian divisions that have fuelled resentment among the Sunni minority.

Speculation that Maliki might be forced aside was heightened when the country's senior Shi'ite cleric urged a speedy formation of a new government following the ratification this week of the results of a parliamentary election held in April.

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Iraq Civil War News Updates -- June 20, 2014

Iraq Live Blog Live -- Al Jazeera
Troops prepare to strike back against Isis: Live -- The Telegraph
Iraq crisis: Fierce battles for Baiji and Tal Afar -- BBC
Troops Surrounded, Trapped in Iraq's Key Refinery, Sources Tell ABC News -- ABC News
Witness claims ISIS flag flies over key Iraq refinery, Baghdad says soldiers still hold it -- FOX News
Fighting Continues in Iraq as US Plans Aid -- VOA
Iraq Requests U.S. Airstrikes to 'Break the Morale' of Militants -- NBC
More than a million Iraqis have fled their homes as ISIS continues armed siege -- CNN
Islamic Army of Iraq founder: Isis and Sunni Islamists will march on Baghdad -- The Telegraph
Iraq crisis: Isis militants release video to recruit foreign fighters -- The Independent
ISIS leader urges kids to fight against the West, take back Iraq in new video -- New York Daily News
UN Chief Opposes Airstrikes on Extremists in Iraq -- AP
U.N. chief warns against airstrikes on militants in Iraq -- Reuters
Australian troops sent to Iraq to help secure embassy -- The Guardian
In Chaos, Iraq’s Kurds See a Chance to Gain Ground -- New York Times
ISIS: Not alone in their conquest of Iraq -- Washington Post