Militants attacked one of Iraq’s largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields yesterday as US special forces troops and intelligence analysts arrived to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his job and is under international pressure to create a more inclusive government, said he supported starting the process of forming a new cabinet within a week.
More than 1,000 people have been killed during Sunni insurgents’ advance
In northern Iraq the Sunni militants extended a two-week advance that has been led by the hardline Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) but also includes an amalgam of other Sunni groups angered by Maliki’s rule.
They blame him for marginalising their sect during eight years in power. The fighting threatens to rupture the country two and a half years after the end of US occupation.
US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Iraqi officials to form an “inclusive” government during a visit this week and urged leaders of the autonomous Kurdish region to stand with Baghdad against the onslaught.
A Parliament session is planned within a week that will start the process of forming a new government based on the results of elections held in April. Maliki’s Shi’ite-led State of Law coalition won the most seats but needs support of other Shi’ite groups, Sunnis and Kurds to build a government.
“We will attend the first session of Parliament,” Maliki said on state television, adding the commitment stemmed from “loyalty to our people” and respect for a call by Iraq’s foremost Shi’ite clergy.
On Friday, Shi’ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most respected cleric among Iraq’s Shi’ite majority, called for the government formation process to begin.
The United Nations says more than 1,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed during the Sunni insurgents’ advance in Iraq, spearheaded by al-Qaeda offshoot Isil.
The figure includes unarmed government troops machine gunned in mass graves by insurgents, as well as several reported incidents of prisoners killed in their cells by retreating government forces. In addition to the bloodshed, close to a million people have been displaced in Iraq this year. Amin Awad, director of Middle East and North Africa bureau for the UN refugee agency, called Iraq yesterday “a land of displacement”. US President Barack Obama has ruled out sending ground troops back to Iraq where they withdrew in 2011. He has offered up to 300 American military advisers, about 130 of whom have now been deployed.