Iraqi militants seize country's largest dam

Militants from the Islamic State group have seized Iraq's largest hydroelectric dam, giving them control of enormous power and water resources and leverage over the Tigris River that runs through the heart of Baghdad.

The fighting has trapped tens of thousands of members of religious minorities on a mountaintop. President Barack Obama approved airdrops of humanitarian supplies for them, but he was still weighing whether to combine that assistance with US airstrikes, officials said yesterday night.

Airstrikes would mark a significant shift in the US strategy in Iraq, where the military fully withdrew in late 2011 after nearly a decade of war. Officials said Obama could announce a decision as early as yesterday night. The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name.

Yesterday's dam seizure was the latest in a string of victories by the Sunni radical group as it expands its hold in northern Iraq, driving back Kurdish forces, sending minority communities fleeing and unleashing bombings that have killed more than 90 people in the capital over the past two days.

After a week of attempts, the radical Islamist gunmen successfully stormed the Mosul Dam yesterday and forced Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area, residents living near the dam told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.

The al-Qaida breakaway group posted a statement online yesterday, confirming it had taken control of the dam and vowing to continue "the march in all directions," as it expands the Islamic state, or Caliphate, it has imposed over broad swathes of territory straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The group said it has seized a total of 17 Iraqi cities, towns and targets including the dam and a military base over the past five days. The statement could not be verified but it was posted on a site frequently used by the group.

Halgurd Hekmat, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters, told the AP that clashes around the dam were ongoing and he didn't know who currently had control over it.

The Sunni militant group has established its idea of an Islamic state in the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Iraqi government forces, Kurds and allied Sunni tribal militiamen have been struggling to dislodge the Islamic State militants and its Sunni allies with little apparent success.