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Al Qaeda Splinter Group Seizes Control of Mosul

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (Worthy News)-- Militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a splinter al Qaeda group, launched an overnight attack on Mosul seizing control of the governor's headquarters, television stations, as well as freeing hundreds of prisoners held in jails.

Insurgents also torched a number of police stations in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city.

"The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an Iraqi interior ministry official told the AFP news agency.

Iraqi security forces have struggled to stop militants from making serious gains throughout the country. The cities of Fallujah and Ramadi were seized earlier this year by insurgents.

ISIL hopes to establish a new Islamic state in the territory it now controls in western Iraq and eastern Syria.

While ISIL follows al-Qaeda's jihadist ideology, its so extreme in nature,  that it is disowned by al-Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan.  ISIL is known for its brutality as it routinely beheads and crucifies its enemies.

[Photo: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's territorial control of Syria and Iraq as of early 2014.]

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