ISIL major threat for Iraq: Security Council

The United Nations Security Council has voiced concerns over the crisis created by ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, calling them “a major threat."

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday, expressing the 15-member world body’s concerns regarding the situation. The resolution also extended the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) for another year.

The Security Council "recognizes that security of United Nations personnel is essential for UNAMI to carry out its work for the benefit of the people of Iraq and calls upon the government of Iraq to continue to provide security and logistical support to the United Nations presence in Iraq," said the resolution.

The ISIL terrorists currently control a swathe of eastern Syria and western Iraq.

The crisis in Iraq escalated after the ISIL Takfiri militants took control of Mosul, in a lightning advance on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.

More than a million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations.

The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of Mosul a “conspiracy".

Soldiers of the Iraqi army have been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants on different fronts and have so far been able to push back militants in several areas.

Maliki has said Saudi Arabia and Qatar are responsible for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, denouncing the Al Saud regime as a major supporter of global terrorism.