Iraq's government has lost control of a second city in less than 48 hours after militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant seized the city of Tikrit on Wednesday, according to a security source.
Separately, eyewitnesses told the Anadolu Agency that ISIL militants "took over the city in only a few minutes." They said ISIL militants started firing into the air and broke into the state university of Tikrit, a city only 140 km from Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The Private Salahuddin television channel, based in Tikrit, suddenly stopped broadcasting.
Earlier in the day police Captain Omar al-Jubouri told AA: "The army withdrew abruptly from the entrance of Tikrit city, leaving only the police and rapid deployment forces in the city."
aa.com.tr/en
ISIL militants capture new areas in N. Iraq: http://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/343428--isil-militants-capture-new-areas-in-n-iraq
