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| Iraq conflict: PM fires senior officers over rebel advance | Iraq conflict: PM fires senior officers over rebel advance |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has fired senior officers for failing to halt a sweeping advance by Sunni Islamist rebels. | Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has fired senior officers for failing to halt a sweeping advance by Sunni Islamist rebels. |
| Four army commanders were dismissed for failing to perform "their national duty", a government statement said on Tuesday. | |
| Iraqi forces have been engaged in heavy clashes with the rebels who have seized several key cities in the past week. | Iraqi forces have been engaged in heavy clashes with the rebels who have seized several key cities in the past week. |
| The US is deploying up to 275 military personnel to protect staff at its huge embassy in the capital, Baghdad. | The US is deploying up to 275 military personnel to protect staff at its huge embassy in the capital, Baghdad. |
| The militants, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), took control of the northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit in a rapid advance last week, and Tal Afar on Monday. | |
| They also briefly captured parts of the city of Baquba - just 60km (37 miles) from Baghdad - in an overnight assault, before government troops and allied Shia militia regained control on Tuesday. | |
| Qasem Suleimani, the commander of an elite unit of Iran's revolutionary guards, is reported to be in Baghdad, helping military and Shia leaders co-ordinate their campaign against the rebels. |