Iraqi security forces in the north patrol an area near Kirkuk.<br/> <br />They fire their weapons as plumes of smoke from burning cars billow in the distance.<br/> <br />They've been fighting Sunni insurgents from an Al Qaeda splinter group called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.<br/> <br />The militants took control on Tuesday of nearby Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city.<br/> <br />On Wednesday, their control of the city extended further south, where the country's biggest oil refinery lies.<br/> <br />Video posted online that Reuters can't verify purports to show large fires burning in the refinery town of Baiji.<br/> <br />This is said to be inside a local police station, now abandoned.<br/> <br />Wednesday's advance by ISIL is a devastating show of strength against the Shiite-led government.<br/> <br />In his weekly address, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the fall of Mosul a conspiracy designed by outside forces, but refused to elaborate.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MAL
