As militants sweep closer to Baghdad, US mulls air strikes on rebels

Fighters seize town of Dhuluiyah, while nearby Muatassam area fall to militants as well.

BAGHDAD/ KIRKUK: Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were pushing toward Baghdad Thursday after capturing a town only 90 kilometres to its north, in a lightning three-day offensive the Iraqi government has failed to stop.

The fighters seized the town of Dhuluiyah, a municipal councillor, a police colonel and witnesses told AFP by telephone.

The nearby Muatassam area has also fallen to militants, the municipal council member and witnesses said.

ISIL spokesperson Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised the group would push on to Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is one of the holiest sites for Shias, in a statement.

With militants closing in, Iraq's parliament was to meet for an emergency session Thursday to consider a request from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the president's office for it to declare a state of emergency.

Doing so requires a two-thirds vote, making it unlikely to pass the sharply divided parliament, which has produced little significant legislation in years and is often poorly attended.

US mulls air strikes

As militants sweep closer to Baghdad, UN Security Council was prompted to convene crisis talks Thursday while the US mulls air strikes on the rebels.

The UN Security Council swiftly convened a meeting to discuss the crisis in a sign of growing international alarm at the fast-moving situation.

Diplomats said the closed consultations would begin at 11:30am local time and will include a briefing by video link from the UN special representative to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov.

Washington is considering several options for offering military assistance to Baghdad, including drone strikes, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Resorting to such aircraft - used in Afghanistan and Pakistan in a highly controversial programme - would mark a dramatic shift in the US engagement in Iraq, after the last American troops pulled out in late 2011.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the US was committed to "working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a unified approach against ISIL's continued aggression."

But there is no current plan to send US troops back into Iraq, where around 4,500 American soldiers died in the bitter conflict.

White House spokesperson Jay Carney said Washington "strongly condemns" the ISIL attacks and "will stand with Iraqi leaders".

And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to unite behind Iraq, warning that "terrorism must not be allowed to succeed in undoing the path toward democracy in Iraq."