Iraq Militants Poised For March On Baghdad

Iraq has implemented a new plan to defend Baghdad as Islamist insurgents edge closer to the country's capital, according to an interior ministry spokesman.

Security forces are gathering at a base just 20 miles outside Baghdad, ready to protect the city from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) fighters who have vowed to march on the city.

Iraq's Shiite-led government says a fight-back is under way after the Sunni insurgents took control of the northern cities Mosul and Tikrit.

Thousands of refugees have fled the violence. Pic: UNHCR

The fighters have already taken control of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.

But the militants moved into the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla in the eastern province of Diyala after security forces abandoned their positions.

Diyala Deputy Governor Furat al Tamimi said Kurdish security forces have now moved into the areas, following on from taking control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk.

A comparison of the Iraqi army and ISIS

The Iraqi army fired artillery at the two towns from Muqdadiya, 50 miles from the Baghdad city limits, sending dozens of families fleeing towards the Iranian border, security sources said.

The Iraqi air force also launched airstrikes on militant fighters' positions around Mosul and Tikrit.

According to witnesses, the fighters are preparing a third assault on Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, following two failed attempts to take the city.

Some of the areas affected by the fighting in Iraq

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros, in Irbil, northern Iraq, said: "The Iraqis are attacking by air because they cannot attack by land.

"The army right now is extremely demoralised, it feels like it's lacking in leadership and it's splintering under this pressure. Meanwhile, the militants certainly seem like they have the upper hand and all the momentum."

The US has confirmed ground troops will not be sent into Iraq, but President Barack Obama says his administration is looking into "all options" to help Iraqi leaders.

An Iraqi security officer stands guard as Iraqi civilians wait to volunteer

"I don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria," he said.

A US defence official says American surveillance drones have been in the air over Iraq to help the fight against the Sunni insurgents.

Hundreds of Americans have also been evacuated from a military base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The UN Security Council has demanded urgent dialogue and condemned the "terrorist" activities of the insurgents, but stopped short of considering action against them.

A girl, who fled from the violence in Mosul, carries a case of water

More than 500,000 people have fled the conflict in the Mosul region alone, with many heading into Kurdish areas in the north.

The World Food Programme has begun providing assistance to 42,000 of the most vulnerable.

Sectarian political dysfunction has been blamed for the government's failure to secure authorisation to declare a state of emergency, which was called for by Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki earlier this week.

ISIS, led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, wants to create a Sunni state, or caliphate, straddling the border between Iraq and Syria.

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