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Iraq conflict: Sistani 'issues' Shia call to arms against militants Iraq conflict: Sistani 'issues' Shia call to arms against militants
(35 minutes later)
Iraq's most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms as Sunni-led insurgents sweep across towns.Iraq's most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms as Sunni-led insurgents sweep across towns.
The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east and threatened to march south.The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east and threatened to march south.
The UN says hundreds have been killed - with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.The UN says hundreds have been killed - with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.
The US and Iran have promised to help the fight against the insurgency.The US and Iran have promised to help the fight against the insurgency.
Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the insurgents have threatened to push to the capital, Baghdad and regions further south dominated by Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, including the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, whom they regard as "infidels".
At the scene, Feras Kilani, BBC News, Baghdad
Fear is the thing that you feel the most as you walk through Baghdad's streets, as the militants come closer. People here are buying supplies and staying in front of their television sets. They remember what happened during the civil war of 2006-2008 and area very scared this will happen again.
Many Iraqis no longer trust their national army after soldiers retreated from the ISIS advance. Some have even called for people to instead join militias to defend cities and holy sites.
It's certainly not the same Baghdad it has been in the last few years.
Is this the end of Iraq?
Iraq crisis: Voices from Mosul under ISIS control
Viewpoint: ISIS goals and possible future gains
Iraq conflict: US air power no remedy
In his sermon at Friday prayers in Karbala, Sheik Abdulmehdi al-Karbalai said: "Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists, defending their country and their people and their holy places, should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose."
As the militants moved on to Diyala province in the east - on the border with Iran - later on Friday, they clashed with Shia militias, Reuters news agency says.
President Hassan Rouhani of Iran called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Thursday and promised that Iran would "not allow the supporters of terrorists to disrupt security and stability of Iraq through exporting terrorism to Iraq".
According to the Wall Street Journal - which cited unnamed sources - Iran has already deployed two battalions of the elite al-Quds forces of its Revolutionary Guard to help the Iraqi government.
US President Barack Obama said he did not "rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in Iraq, or Syria for that matter".
Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor
If ISIS can hold Mosul and consolidate its presence there, it will have taken a giant step towards its goal of creating an Islamist emirate that straddles Iraq and Syria.
It would be the most significant act by a jihadist group since al-Qaeda attacked the US on 11 September 2001. It could also lead to other changes to the borders Britain and France imposed on the Middle East a century ago, starting with the break-up of Iraq on sectarian lines.
The success of ISIS can only make the turmoil in the Middle East worse. ISIS is an ultra-extremist Sunni Muslim group. Its success will deepen the sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shias that is already the most dangerous fault line in the Middle East.
Iran, which is a majority Shia Muslim country, shares a border with Iraq. It has a direct line to Iraq's Shia Muslim Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, and close links with some Iraqi Shia militias. The Iranians could direct their proxies, and even their own special forces units, at ISIS.
That might end up further inflaming the anger of Iraqi Sunnis, who have already helped the advance of ISIS through Iraq.
US air strikes, if they happen, might do the same thing. Once again in the Middle East, the Americans have limited options. Their invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 helped create and strengthen jihadist groups.
Sharpening Sunni-Shia schism bodes ill for Middle East
Rape and murder
UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Friday that his office had verified reports that included the killing of 17 civilians working for the police and 12 Iraqi soldiers.
Among the atrocities, he listed four women who had killed themselves after being raped.
He said there had been government "excesses", too, and cited the shelling of civilian areas on 6 and 8 June.
"There are claims that up to 30 civilians may have been killed," Mr Colville said.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says local authorities estimate that up to 300,000 people fled Mosul in the past few days - joining the more than 500,000 displaced by the conflict in Anbar province earlier.
However, the number of those arriving has slowed down and some already there have begun to return.
In the north of the country, Kurdish forces have claimed control of the oil city of Kirkuk, saying government forces have fled.
The Kurds - seen as a bulwark against the Sunni Muslim insurgents - have also been locked for years in a dispute with Baghdad over Kirkuk, seeking to incorporate it into their own autonomous area.
ISIS in Iraq
Are you in Saadiya, Jalawla or Baghdad? Have you been affected by the latest developments? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the title 'Iraq'.