Iraq Gunmen Attack North of Baghdad as Obama Weighs Plan

Islamist militants in Iraq fought with the army in a town near Baghdad and with Kurds in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, as the U.S. weighed options to stem an offensive that threatens to fracture the country.

Gunmen from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant attacked Kurdish forces in Kirkuk yesterday, leaving two soldiers and a civilian dead and almost 50 people injured, al-Mada news agency said. An earlier attack left five police dead, while ISIL also regained control of the mostly Turkmen village of Bashir south of Kirkuk, al-Mada said.