US may send drones to Iraq to battle jihadist offensive
Kurdish forces take control of Kirkuk after government troops flee in fear of ISIL militants
Jihadists were pushing towards Baghdad yesterday after capturing a town just hours to the north, as the US mulled air strikes in a bid to bolster the country's collapsing security forces.
With the militants closing in on the capital, forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region took control of Kirkuk, an ethnically divided northern city they have sought to rule for decades.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari acknowledged security forces, which the US invested billions in training and equipping before withdrawing its own troops in 2011, had melted away.
Russia said the lightning gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a movement so radical it has been disavowed even by the al-Qaeda leadership, showed the pointlessness of the 2003 US-led invasion.
US President Barack Obama said he was "looking at all the options" in helping the Iraqi government.
"I don't rule anything out," he said when asked whether the US was considering drone strikes or any other action to stop the insurgency.
Video: Iraqi soldiers battle militants outside Kirkuk