Militants seize Turkish consulate in Iraqi city of Mosul - reports
Radical Islamist insurgents have seized the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, occupied by an Al-Qaeda offshoot, Turkish government sources have told Reuters.
According to AFP citing local police, the Turkish consul and 24 other consulate employees have been taken hostage by the militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL).
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding an emergency meeting on the situation, Hurriyet reports.
According to Turkish media, the captors are holding diplomats in militant headquarters.
An Islamist Twitter account, @Dawla_NewsMedia, which has been tweeting photos and pro-ISIS reports from the scene, claimed that the Turkish diplomats have been moved “to an unknown location.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry meanwhile said it was verifying the information as conflicting reports from local Kurdish media claimed the consulate was attacked by ISIS, but the staff was “evacuated and safe.”
The radical Sunni militants have already taken hostage at least 32 Turkish nationals – truck drivers – in the area since Tuesday, according to Hurriyet.
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have fled Mosul and the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, which the jihadists have largely taken under control. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) placed the number of refugees at 500,000.
Those fleeing the region included demoralized Iraqi troops, who chaotically left their positions, dropping uniforms, weapons, munitions and military hardware.
read on: http://rt.com/news/165340-turkish-consulate-mosul-qaeda/
Love Always
mudra
Radical Islamist insurgents have seized the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, occupied by an Al-Qaeda offshoot, Turkish government sources have told Reuters.
According to AFP citing local police, the Turkish consul and 24 other consulate employees have been taken hostage by the militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL).
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding an emergency meeting on the situation, Hurriyet reports.
According to Turkish media, the captors are holding diplomats in militant headquarters.
An Islamist Twitter account, @Dawla_NewsMedia, which has been tweeting photos and pro-ISIS reports from the scene, claimed that the Turkish diplomats have been moved “to an unknown location.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry meanwhile said it was verifying the information as conflicting reports from local Kurdish media claimed the consulate was attacked by ISIS, but the staff was “evacuated and safe.”
The radical Sunni militants have already taken hostage at least 32 Turkish nationals – truck drivers – in the area since Tuesday, according to Hurriyet.
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have fled Mosul and the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, which the jihadists have largely taken under control. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) placed the number of refugees at 500,000.
Those fleeing the region included demoralized Iraqi troops, who chaotically left their positions, dropping uniforms, weapons, munitions and military hardware.
read on: http://rt.com/news/165340-turkish-consulate-mosul-qaeda/
Love Always
mudra