ISIS Insurgents Gain New Ground in Iraq

Islamist fighters have managed to take over the Iraqi towns of Saadiya and Jalawla, days after Mosul and Tikrit fell into their hands.

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) insurgents are planning to reach the capital Baghdad, to the south of the swathes they currently control across Iraq and Syria, and to include it into an emirate forged out of those territories, which are estimated to be hundreds of square kilometers.

US President Barack Obama earlier said all options were on the table as Washington was exploring ways to assist the Iraqi government. He did not rule out a scenario in which air strikes are to be carried out.

The UN has warned that hundreds of thousands of people have fled Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, after it fell to the militants.

ISIS is an offshoot of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization in Iraq and has a strength of 3000 to 5000 fighters.

CNN reports the group is already imposing Sharia law in the towns and cities which are now under its command.