Iraq's air force went into action Wednesday against militants who have seized a swathe of the north including the country's second largest city, state television reported, according to dpa. Military helicopters strafed militants in Salah al-Din province, south of jihadist-held Mosul, wiping out a rebel column on one major route, the broadcaster said. There were conflicting claims as to the fate of Salah al-Din's provincial capital Tikrit, with state television quoting security officials as saying they had retaken it from militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Alsumaria television earlier reported that ISIL had seized the city, 170 kilometres north of Baghdad. Secular Sunni rebels also claimed to have taken government positions there and in part of Kirkuk province, south of Mosul. Al-Maliki meanwhile repeated his call for volunteers to take up arms, saying that he planned to form a "reserve army." The embattled premier called on "the sons of the provinces and the tribes to stand with the army and police and form volunteer battalions." He earlier called Mosul's fall a "conspiracy" and vowed to regain it by force. -- SPA 21:52 LOCAL TIME 18:52 GMT تغريد
