Kerry in Iraq as Sunni militants seize strategic town, crossing

BAGHDAD, June 23 (AFP): US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Baghdad Monday to push for stability, as Sunni militants seized a strategic town and a border crossing, tightening their grip on north and west Iraq.
Flying in from Jordan, Kerry met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to urge a speeding up of the government formation process in order to face down the insurgents.
During their talks, Maliki told Washington's top diplomat that the crisis "represents a threat not only to Iraq but to regional and international peace," his office said.
Iraqi security forces are struggling to hold their ground in the face of an insurgent onslaught that has seized major areas of five provinces, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and sparked fears that the country could be torn apart.
Maliki's security spokesman said Monday that "hundreds" of Iraqi soldiers have been killed since the insurgents, led by the powerful jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), launched their offensive on June 9.
The announcement on television by Lieutenant General Qassem Atta is the most specific information provided so far by the government on losses sustained by the security forces.