Iraq militants push towards Baghdad

nytimes.com
by SUADAD AL-SALHY and TIM ARANGO June 11, 2014

Families fleeing violence in Iraq’s Nineveh Province gathered at a checkpoint west of Erbil in the autonomous region of Kurdistan. CreditSafin Hamed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

BAGHDAD — Sunni militants consolidated and extended their control over northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, threatening the strategic oil refining town of Baiji and pushing south toward Baghdad, their ultimate target, Iraqi sources said.

As the dimensions of the assault began to become clear, it was evident that a number of militant groups had joined forces, including Baathist military commanders from the Hussein era, whose goal is to rout the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

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