The Islamic State said in a statement on its Twitter account that its fighters had seized 15 towns and the strategic Mosul dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an offensive that began during the weekend, according to The Associated Press.
Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq's biggest, the AP reported. The Iraqi militants could allow flood major cities or cut off significant water supplies and electricity.
The fighting has trapped tens of thousands of members of religious minorities on a mountaintop, and the Obama administration was weighing possible airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to help them, according to U.S. defense officials and others familiar with the administration's thinking, according to the AP.
Thursday's dam seizure was the latest in a string of victories by the Sunni radical group as it expands its hold in northern Iraq, driving back Kurdish forces, sending minority communities fleeing and unleashing bombings that have killed more than 90 people in the capital over the past two days, the AP reported.
After a week of attempts, the radical Islamist gunmen successfully stormed the Mosul Dam Thursday and forced Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area, residents living near the dam told the AP.
The al-Qaida breakaway group posted a statement online Thursday, confirming it had taken control of the dam and vowing to continue "the march in all directions," as it expands the Islamic state, or Caliphate, it has imposed over broad swathes of territory straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border, according to the AP.
The group said it has seized a total of 17 Iraqi cities, towns and targets, now including the dam and a military base, over the past five days, the AP reported. The statement could not be verified but it was posted on a site frequently used by the group.
