UNDER ATTACK IN MOSUL, ISIL HITS ANOTHER CITY

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants launched a wave of pre-dawn attacks in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least 14 people and setting off fierce clashes with Kurdish security forces that were still raging after sundown.

The assault appeared aimed at diverting attention from the offensive to retake Mosul, and raised fears the extremists could lash out in unpredictable ways as they defend the largest city under their control and their last urban bastion in Iraq.

Multiple explosions rocked Kirkuk, and gunfire rang out around the provincial headquarters.

Kirkuk is some 170 kilometres from Mosul, where Iraqi forces launched a widescale offensive on Monday.