Iraqis Told: 'Take Up Arms And Defend Country'

Iraq has implemented an emergency plan to defend Baghdad as a representative for its most senior Shi'ite cleric urged people to take up arms and defend their country.

Sheikh Abdulmehdi al Karbalai, a representative for Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, was delivering a sermon at Friday prayers in Karbala.

Islamist insurgents are edging closer to the country's capital after seizing large swathes of territory as they head south on the road from Mosul to Baghdad.

Along the way the fighters have been parading seized military equipment and flying the black and white flag of the Islamic caliphate, or state, they hope to create.

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

Brigadier General Saad Maan told the AFP news agency: "The plan consists of intensifying the deployment of forces, and increasing intelligence efforts and the use of technology such as (observation) balloons and cameras and other equipment."

Thousands of refugees have fled the violence. Pic: UNHCR

Insurgents have taken control of the northern cities Mosul and Tikrit, having already seized Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.

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

A security source and local official have told Reuters that insurgents have clashed with Shi'ite militia at two locations in the province.

A comparison of the Iraqi army and ISIS

As the chaos spreads, Iraqi Kurdish forces have seized control of Kirkuk, an oil hub close to their autonomous enclave, after government troops abandoned their posts.

A spokesman for the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said she is "extremely concerned" by summary executions, extrajudicial killings and the displacement of more than 500,000 people.

Rupert Colville said the number of people killed after the militants overran Mosul may run into the hundreds.

Some of the areas affected by the fighting in Iraq

He said his office had reports the killings included the execution of 18 civilians working for the police.

Four women had killed themselves after being raped, while 16 Georgians had been kidnapped, Mr Colville added.

"We've also had reports suggesting that the government forces have also committed excesses, in particular the shelling of civilian areas on 6 and 8 June," he said.

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

"There are claims that up to 30 civilians may have been killed."

The Iraqi army fired artillery at Saadiyah and Jalawla 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.

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

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

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros, in Irbil, northern Iraq, said: "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".

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

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