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Militants in Mosul attacked the Turkish consulate in the city on Wednesday, kidnapping 48 people, one of whom was the head of the diplomatic mission. Only a day earlier, the Turkish consulate in Mosul said that members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had captured 28 Turkish truck drivers; it was on a day when jihadists, led by ISIL captured Mosul, the surrounding region of Nineveh and parts of Salaheddin and Kirkuk province.
According to sources, the consul, guards, staff members and three children were among the 48 Turkish people abducted. The raid has prompted the Turkish government to hold an urgent crisis meeting.Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, held the emergency meeting with his Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey’s chief intelligence agency. According to sources, they discussed security measures that needed to be taken, and ways to arrange for the release of the people kidnapped.
Militants also captured the city of Tikrit, which is the capital of Salaheddin province and lies halfway between Mosul and Baghdad. Tikrit is the second provincial capital seized by militant forces in the past two days. According to the police, militants attacked the city from the south, west and the north, and had freed around 300 prisoners from a prison in Tikrit.
Meanwhile, in the city of Samarra, Iraqi forces battled against militants trying to break into its northern entrance, as they continue to push south towards the nation’s capital. A revered Shiite shrine in Samarra was bombed in 2006, leading to sectarian conflict between the Sunni Arab minority and the Shiite majority. Over tens of thousands were killed in the clashes. Samarra is a mere 110 kilometers to the north of Baghdad, and lies on the main highway connecting Baghdad and Mosul, where Jihadists had launched their offensive on Monday.