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Extremist forces sweeping through Iraq in a rampage across northern and western parts of the country have declared an “Islamic Caliphate” and ordered Muslims the world over to pledge allegiance to them, in an outrageous bid to stamp their authority.
Meanwhile, federal Iraqi forces have pressed their counter-attack on Monday against militants in the city of Tikrit, one of several cities and towns overrun in the extremist offensive which has caused the deaths of at least 1,000 people, displaced several hundreds of thousands and has piled on the pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, both domestically and internationally. Nuri al-Maliki’s bid for a third Presidential term has taken a battering due to the offensive, and many consider that he has lost his frontrunner status when the newly-elected parliament will hold its first session on Tuesday.
According to sources in Tikrit, federal reinforcements had arrived with artillery and tanks on Monday, and were able to region control to some of the outskirts of the city lost during the militant offensive, around 160 kilometers to the north of Baghdad, which had fallen to militant forces on June 11th.
The militant group spearheading the offensive, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has renamed itself as the Islamic State (IS), and declared that its leader is now the leader for Muslims all over the globe, in an obvious show of strength to the al-Qaeda.
On Sunday, the IS announced that it is establishing a “caliphate”, an Islamic government last in power during the Ottoman Empire, which the IS now claims extends from Aleppo in Syria to the Diyala province in Iraq, all regions where it has combated the regime in power.
In an audio clip it posted online, the militant group declared its shadowy leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “the caliph” and the “leader for Muslims everywhere”. The group said that he is now to be known as “caliph Ibrahim”, referring to his real name. The move might not have an immediate impact on the ground in Iraq and Syria but indicates the militant group’s confidence as it slowly tries to move away from the al-Qaeda.