As he spoke, however, Iraq’s US-trained forces appeared to melting away rather than putting up any kind of defence. The al-Qaeda offshoot group behind the uprising, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Syria), which is known as ISIS, declared that it was in “complete control” of roads in and out of Mosul and the surrounding province. Gunmen were reported to have seized an oil refinery in the neighbouring town of Baiji, and kidnapped the head of the Mosul’s Turkish diplomatic mission along with 24 of its staff.