Iraq has formally called on the United States to launch air strikes against jehadists who have seized several key cities.“We have a request from the Iraqi Government for air power,” confirmed top US military commander Gen Martin Dempsey.
The announcement came after insurgents launched an attack on Iraq’s biggest oil refinery north of Baghdad. PM Nouri Maliki earlier urged Iraqis to unite against the militants.
A report by news agency AFP from Baghdad said that militants pressing a major offensive in Iraq attacked the country’s biggest oil refinery on Wednesday, as the premier scrambled to regain the initiative by sacking security commanders and reaching out to political rivals.
The United States, which was mulling air strikes against the insurgents, said it believed Baghdad’s security forces were rallying against the assault, while Iran pledged not to let Shiite shrines in Iraq fall to the Sunni Arab militants leading the charge.
Washington has deployed some 275 military personnel to protect its Embassy in Baghdad, the first time it has publicly bolstered the mission’s security, while other countries have also sought to evacuate nationals and pull diplomats out.
The crisis, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, threatens to carve up the country while the assault on the Baiji oil refinery early Wednesday will likely further spook international oil markets.
World oil producers have cautiously watched the unfolding chaos in Iraq, which currently exports around 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, but have thus far stressed that the country’s vast crude supplies are safe — for now.