Washington will try to help the as many as half a million people who have fled fierce fighting in Iraq, the nominee to be the next US envoy to Baghdad said today.
Denouncing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as "one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world," Stuart Jones told US lawmakers the United States "will continue to monitor the situation closely, and will work with our international partners to try to meet the needs of those who have been displaced."
His testimony came a day after the fall of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, to the Sunni militants and amid police reports that ISIL fighters also took the northern city of Tikrit in fighting today.
Police and witnesses said security forces were fighting militants at the gates of Samarra today.
As many as half a million Iraqis fled their homes in Mosul to escape the stunning offensive, as ISIL vowed on its Twitter account "not to stop this series of blessed offensives."
Jones, who is currently US ambassador to Jordan, said Washington has responded to the threat with stepped up transfers of military equipment to Iraq, information sharing and border security programs.
"We have also initiated a high-level dialogue between our senior military leadership and key Iraqi military commanders, coupled with training for Iraqi Security Forces," he said.
