'This is our football, it's made of skin #World Cup': After posting sickening beheading video of Iraqi policeman, ISIS boast of slaughtering 1,700 soldiers

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Image of officer's decapitated head tweeted with sickening message: 'This is our ball. It's made of skin #WorldCup'

Battle lines drawn as Iraqi forces gather at base just 20 miles outside Baghdad after militants seize two more towns

President Obama rules out sending troops back to Iraq but promises to review military options including air strikes



Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claims security forces have now started to clear several cities of 'the terrorists'



More than 20 UK nationals thought to be trapped in territories where Islamists are carrying out summary executions



Al Qaeda-inspired militants stage jubilant parade of American Humvee patrol cars seized from collapsing Iraqi army

Masked fighters wave the black flag of the Islamic State and flash the 'V' sign while shouting 'towards Baghdad!'

Insurgents have also captured two helicopters, 15 tanks and armoured cars that used to belong to U.S. military

Iraq's refugee population has increased by almost 800,000 this year as the government struggles against rebels

President Barack Obama weighs up possible airstrikes - but rules out putting U.S. soldiers back on the ground

ISIS leader dismissed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as woefully incompetent, calling him 'underwear merchant'


Blood-thirsty jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, Iraqi soldiers and police officers - including 17 in one street alone - on their warpath to Baghdad, the UN said today.

As a shocking picture of the ISIS insurgency continues to develop, the Islamist group are posting barbaric videos online with the intent of showing the world they will stop at nothing to achieve their end game.



In one, which is too graphic to publish, fighters are seen knocking on the door of a Sunni police major in the dead of night.

When he answers, they blindfold and cuff him. Then they carve off his head with a knife in his own bedroom as sweetly lilting religious hymns are played over the top.

An image of the officer's decapitated head was tweeted with the sickening message: 'This is our ball. It is made of skin #WorldCup'. ISIS also claims to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers on their push for the capital.



Although this figure has not been verified, the UN today warned that hundreds of people are likely to have been killed by the fanatics since the uprising.

This evening, President Barack Obama ruled out sending troops back into combat in Iraq but promised to review military options - including air strikes.



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Taking no prisoners: In this video, ISIS fighters are seen knocking on the door of a Sunni police major in the dead of night before blindfolding and handcuffing him



Crazed: Jihadists are carrying out summary executions on civilians, soldiers and police officers including this police major after taking control of large swathes of Iraq Grim: As the images emerged on Twitter, ISIS also claimed to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers on their push for the capital

Shocking: Footage reportedly taken by ISIS militants shows Islamist fighters randomly shooting pedestrians and motorists as they take over towns and cities in Iraq

Indiscriminate: A car flies off the road after the driver is shot dead by gunmen in video purportedly posted online by ISIS militants Sickening: The gunmen film themselves shooting cars off the road then move in to video close-ups of the victims' blood-stained bodies slumped in the seats Brutal: The footage, which cannot be independently verified, contains the same logo used in video posted earlier this week showing a businessman being shot in the head

More than 20 British nationals are thought to be trapped in rebel-held areas, although officials say there are no plans as yet to stage evacuations in the north or from Baghdad.

However, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain might offer assistance with counter-terrorism expertise to authorities in Iraq.

Speaking after talks on Iraq with US Secretary of State John Kerry in London, Mr Hague stressed that Britain has no intention of putting military boots on the ground in the country.

But he said that a team from the Department for International Development was now on the ground in northern Iraq to see what humanitarian help the UK can give.

He also made clear that Britain is also ready to advise the Baghdad administration on counter-terrorism efforts.

Meanwhile, John Kerry said: ' The bottom line is ISIS is a threat, not just to Iraq and to the entire region, but it is a threat to Europe, the United States, and other countries in the world, and obviously with the number of foreign fighters that have been assembled in Syria this remains a very significant issue.'

ISIS fighters are moving ever closer to the capital after capturing two towns in the eastern province of Diyala as security forces abandoned their posts.

Iraqi security forces, who have until now fled the insurgency, are gathering at a base just 20 miles outside Baghdad ready to protect the city as the threat of all-war loomed.

Security sources said the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the insurgents, as well as several other villages around the Himreen mountains, which have long been a hideout for militants.

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colvill said the number of people killed after Sunni Islamist militants overran the city of Mosul earlier this week may run into the hundreds.

Marauders: Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant celebrate on American Humvees taken from Iraqi security forces along a street in city of Mosul

GRAVES DESTROYED, NO WOMEN OUTSIDE AND 'UNBELIEVERS' MUST REPENT: ISIS IMPOSES STRICT SHARIA LAW IN CAPTURED TERRITORIES

In the swathe of seized regions across northern Iraq, ISIS has declared hardline Sharia law, publishing the following set of strict rules: People have tried secular rule - now it is time for an Islamic state

Women should wear loose-fitting clothes and leave home only when necessary

Shrines and graves should be destroyed

Only flag allowed to be carried is the ISIS one

Places have been opened for police and soldiers of the 'unbelievers' to repent



Drugs, cigarettes or alcohol banned

Tribal leaders must not become traitors by working with the government

All Muslims to pray at the mosque at the correct time

Money we have stolen from the government is for the public. Only the imam of mosques can spend it - thieves will have their hands cut off

We are the soldiers of Islam and we have taken on the responsibility of re-establishing the caliphate

Translated by The Independent Mr Obama, in his first comments on the deteriorating situation, said it was clear Iraq needed additional assistance from the US and the international community given the lightning gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. 'What we've seen over the last couple of days indicates Iraq’s going to need more help' from the United States and other nations, Obama said in the Oval Office. He added that the U.S. has been working 'around the clock' to find appropriate ways to intervene.

Republican politicians pinned some of the blame for the escalating violence on Mr Obama's reluctance to re-engage in a conflict he long opposed. For more than a year, the Iraqi government has been pleading with the US for additional help to combat the insurgency, which has been fuelled by the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Northern Iraq has become a way station for insurgents who routinely travel between the two countries and are spreading the Syrian war's violence. Iraqi leaders made a fresh request earlier this week, asking for a mix of drones and manned aircraft that could be used for both surveillance and active missions.

Officials said Mr Obama was considering those requests and was expected to decide on a course of action within a few days. The US is already flying unmanned aircraft over Iraq for intelligence purposes, an official said. Short of airstrikes, the president could step up the flow of military assistance to the beleaguered Iraqi government, increase training exercises for the country's security forces and help boost Iraq's intelligence capabilities.



The U.S. has been leery of its lethal aid falling into the hands of militants or being otherwise misused. Spoils of war: Another video purportedly posted by ISIS appears to show a yard of armoured vehicles apparently seized from the Iraqi military The yard, which has apparently been captured by ISIS militants, also contains patrols cars and trucks that appear to have been taken from Iraqi forces An image posted on a militant Twitter account today appears to show a banner bearing a black flag used by the Al-Qaeda inspired lslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hanging from an overpass in Mosul, Iraq

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. is sending about 12 million dollars (£7.15 million) in humanitarian aid to help nearly a million Iraqis who have been forced from their homes by recent fighting. Mr Obama huddled with his national security team to discuss the deteriorating security situation. US vice president Joe Biden called Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to underscore that while the US stands ready to help, it would be crucial for Iraq to come up with longer-term solutions to its internal political strife. Nearly all American troops left Iraq in December 2011 after Washington and Baghdad failed to negotiate a security agreement that would have kept a limited number of U.S. forces in the country for a few more years at least. Senator John McCain, a frequent White House critic, called for Mr Obama's entire national security team to resign. House Speaker John Boehner accused the president of 'taking a nap' while conditions worsened. But Congress appears divided over how to respond, with some Republicans backing airstrikes and other figures from both parties suggesting that is the wrong approach. There were no calls for putting American troops back on the ground in Iraq, and Mr Obama's advisers said the president had no desire to plunge the US back into a conflict there. 'The president is mindful that the United States has sacrificed a lot in Iraq and we need to not just be taking this all back on ourselves,' said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. 'We need to come up with solutions that can enable the Iraqis to manage their internal security and their internal politics.' The full horror of the jihadists’ savage victories in Iraq emerged yesterday as witnesses told of streets lined with decapitated soldiers and policemen. U.S. MAY NOT BE GETTING INVOLVED YET BUT THEY'RE STILL PROFITING: MILITARY SELLS 38 F16 JETS TO IRAQ The U.S. is accelerating its $1billion package of military assistance for Iraq in light of the ISIS insurgency. This includes the sale of 36 F-16 jet fighters, but they are unlikely to make a difference in the short term. Lockheed Martin presented the first of 36 F-16 jet fighters it has agreed to sell Baghdad to Iraqi officials in Fort Worth last week. Three or four of the planes are expected to be flown to Iraq for delivery by the end of the year. Blood-soaked bodies and blazing vehicles were left in the wake of the Al Qaeda-inspired ISIS fanatics as they pushed the frontline towards Baghdad.

They boasted about their triumphs in a propaganda video depicting appalling scenes including a businessman being dragged from his car and executed at the roadside with a pistol to the back of his head. The extent of the carnage came as:

Images from captured cities such as Mosul and Tikrit showed deserted streets, burnt out vehicles and discarded uniforms left by government troops fleeing the brutal fanatics;



ISIS leaders urged their bloodthirsty followers to continue their march and warned that battle would rage in Baghdad and in the holy city of Karbala;



Thousands of residents in the capital answered a call to arms to repel the invaders amid fears the government’s own troops were not up to the job;



Aid groups warned of a new refugee crisis after half a million terrified Iraqis left their homes to escape the jihadists. In the swathe of captured territory across northern Iraq, ISIS declared hardline Sharia law, publishing rules ordering women not to go outside ‘unless strictly necessary’, banning alcohol and smoking, and forcing all residents to attend mosques five times a day.

Up in arms: Members of Iraqi security forces chant slogans in Baghdad Sunni Islamist militants pressed towards the capital

IRAQ PLUNGES MIDDLE EAST INTO 'MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT' SINCE INVASION IN 2003

Turmoil in Iraq has plunged the Middle East into its 'most dangerous moment' since the invasion of the country in 2003, an expert said. Professor Peter Neumann, of King's College London, said the recent surge by ISIS threatens to trigger a 'sectarian meltdown' that may spread into other neighbouring states. Earlier this week, Isis militants took control of Iraq's second city Mosul and Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, raising the prospect that the Sunni group would attempt to march on capital Baghdad to settle scores with the Shi'ite-led government. Professor Neumann said he expected the jihadist group's popularity among Sunni Iraqis to fade eventually but warned: 'How much damage can they do until that happens? 'I worry that in the meantime what we will see in Iraq is a sectarian meltdown, a huge confrontation between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds and that could spill into other countries. 'There is a risk that it will be even worse than what we saw about eight or nine years ago in Iraq, which was already pretty horrible.

'This is probably the most dangerous moment in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.' BBC correspondent Paul Wood said one woman from Mosul, Iraq’s second city, had spoken of seeing a ‘row of decapitated soldiers and policemen’.

The refugee woman told how the victims’ heads were placed in rows – a trademark, trophy-style execution favoured by ISIS militants.

The fanatics captured Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, by overrunning an army base and rounding up hundreds of soldiers and police. Dozens of members of a police special forces battalion were paraded on the back of a truck in the city.

As the balaclava-clad militants took Mosul and Tikrit, thousands of Baghdad’s residents young and old queued at recruiting stations to form a ‘Dad’s army’ to defend the capital.

Trucks carrying volunteers in uniform rumbled towards the frontlines to defend the city, with many chanting slogans against the ISIS militants.

Meanwhile the Iraqi air force carried out at least four bombing raids on insurgent positions in and around Mosul. State television showed targets exploding in black clouds.

Britons working in Baghdad’s Green Zone where most of the foreign embassies are based were on high alert. The lightning advance of ISIS has caused alarm in London, Washington and across the Middle East. Despite vastly outnumbering the jihadists, government troops have melted away in the face of the insurgents, allowing them to capture two helicopters, 15 tanks, weapons and several armoured cars that used belonging to the American military. They also seized £350million-worth of dinars by robbing a bank in Mosul.

According to bitter Iraqi footsoldiers, their commanders slipped away in the night rather than mount a defence of the city. Iraqi men clean an array of lethal weapons as they prepare to defend the Sadr City district in case of an attack by Sunni extremists in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad

Leading cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on men in Iraq today to prepare their weapons and take up arms against the offensive spearheaded by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant THE MAN WHO IS TRYING TO BRING IRAQ BACK FROM THE BRINK: TOP CLERIC CALLS ON MEN OF ALL AGES TO HELP DEFEND CAPITAL FROM ISIS

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqi men to take up arms against ISIS Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who called on Iraqi men today to take up arms against 'terrorists', is the country's top Shiite cleric and is revered by millions.

The reclusive Sistani enjoys the kind of following Iraq's Shiite politicians can only dream of, and his call to fight militants who seized swathes of the country this week could give a major boost to recruitment.

'Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists... should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose,' his representative announced on his behalf during today's prayers in the shrine city of Karbala.

'He who sacrifices for the cause of defending his country and his family and his honour will be a martyr,' he added.

The Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) and allied groups launched an offensive on Monday, taking all of one province and chunks of three more.

Security forces have failed to halt the drive, with some fleeing after throwing away their uniforms and abandoning their positions.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by announcing the government will arm and equip citizens who volunteer to fight, and thousands have turned out at recruitment centres to answer the call.

Sistani, born in the Iranian town of Arshad in 1930, started his religious studies at the age of five, and became a grand ayatollah in 1992.

Despite his huge following, he has generally stayed aloof of Iraqi politics, but has made rare but important interventions since the US-led invasion in 2003.

The elderly cleric repeatedly called for calm during Iraq's brutal sectarian conflict from 2006 to 2008 and threw his weight behind democratic elections.

In late 2003, he demanded that a convention of Iraqis draw up a new constitution and that a transitional government be directly elected by the people, a request the US-led occupation authority was only able to resist through UN mediation.

The following year, Sistani intervened again when an uprising against the US-led occupation by the Mahdi Army militia of anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr triggered fighting with US troops in the heart of the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.

He returned from medical treatment in London to a hero's welcome in Iraq, in time to stop a joint US-Iraqi force from launching a final assault on Sadr's forces who were cornered in the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.

A tireless proponent of elections since Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed in 2003, the ageing Sistani used his humble quarters in Najaf as a base to guide the country's Shiite majority to power through the ballot box.

After pressuring the US to expedite the path to democratic elections, the cleric was the guiding force behind the creation of a pan-Shiite coalition in Iraq's parliament.

And he has also used his standing among the country's Shiite Arab majority to urge voters to turn out in strength for parliamentary and provincial elections.

But Sistani's decision-making process remains a mystery and little is known about what really goes on in his spartan home in a heavily-guarded alley in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where he has remained a virtual recluse after years of house arrest during dictator Saddam Hussein's rule. Profile produced by AFP. Volunteers who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants, who have taken over Mosul and other Northern provinces, gesture from an army truck