BAGHDAD, June 12 (UPI) -- As Islamist militants launched a lightening offensive targeting key Iraqi cities this week, the Kurdish Peshmerga (military) deployed to Kirkuk, where they announced Thursday the city was in full Kurdish control and safe from ISIS seizure.
The Iraqi army has been blamed for failing to protect Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, from ISIS control. Council of Representatives speaker Osama al-Nujaifi lamented, "When the battle got tough in the city of Mosul, the troops dropped their weapons and abandoned their posts, making it an easy prey for the terrorists."