Iraq Crisis: Air Force Launch Airstrikes on Isis Positions in Mosul

The Iraqi air force has started a campaign of airstrikes on Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) positions in Mosul following the capture of the city.

State television reported that the air force bombed positions in and around the northern city.

Mosul has provided the launchpad for a southward offensive which has seen the capture of Tikrit city, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and fighting in the town of Samarra.

The Iraqi parliament has delayed voting on prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's request for emergency powers to regain control of key northern cities.

Only 128 of the 325 Iraqi MPs turned up to vote on al-Maliki's request despite the destablising situation in the country's north.

Elsewhere, Kurdish fighters took full control of the city of Kirkuk after the country's army fled Isis insurgents.

"The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into the hands of Peshmerga," said Jabbar Yawar, a Peshmerga spokesman, referring to the Kurdish forces.

"No Iraq army remains in Kirkuk now."

More to follow...