Militants shock the world as they seize Iraq’s Mosul

Al Qaeda-inspired militants seized Iraq’s second city of Mosul, the surrounding Nineveh province and parts of Kirkuk on Tuesday (June 10). (Source: AP)

Iraq Prime Minister of Iraq Nuri al Maliki asked the Parliament to declare a state of emergency, announcing that the government would arm citizens to fight the militants. (Source: AP)

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi told journalists in Baghdad, “All of Nineveh province fell into the hands of militants.” He added that the gunmen were heading south towards neighbouring Salaheddin province. (Source: AP)

An army brigadier general told reporters that hundreds of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched a major assault on the security forces late on Monday, (June 9)

Shops were shut down, a police station was set ablaze and security forces vehicles were burnt or abandoned. (Source: AP)

Hundreds of families are seen fleeing the city, some on foot, carrying what they could, while others take off in vehicles with their belongings piled on the roofs. (Source: AP)

A reporter revealed that in Kurdish north, thousands of Mosul residents had fled for the safety of the autonomous region. (Source: AP)

Dozens of cars and trucks can be seen stretched out from one checkpoint on the boundary of the region. (Source: AP)

People with plastic bags, suitcases and children in tow try to make their way out of the city. (Source: AP)

Mahmud Nuri, a displaced Mosul resident says, “The army forces threw away their weapons and changed their clothes and left their vehicles and left the city.” (Source: AP)

The army general said the assailants seized the provincial government headquarters and the Nineveh Operations Command as well as the airport. (Source: AP)

The Jihadists also freed hundreds of prisoners from three jails. (Source: AP)

The Turkish consulate in Mosul said ISIL fighters had captured 28 Turkish truck drivers, while a foreign ministry official said Ankara hoped they would be released once they finished unloading fuel oil at a power station. (Source: AP)

There were no immediate estimates on how many people were killed in the assault, a stark reminder of the reversals in Iraq since US forces left in late 2011. (Source: AP)

According to a UN spokesman in New York, an estimated 500,000 people have fled Mosul. (Source: AP)

Aid organisations hope to reach those in need with food, water, sanitation and other essential supplies as soon as the volatile security situation permits. (Source: AP)

Refugees flee from Mosul and head to the self-ruled northern Kurdish region in Irbil, Iraq, 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad. (Source: AP)