BAGHDAD: Iraq called on Sunday for urgent global support for its fight against militants, as Shiite neighbour Iran said it was helping Baghdad resist the militants but not with soldiers on the ground.
Iraq is struggling to regain ground after a lightning militant offensive led by the Islamic State (IS) militants group seized second city Mosul in June and swept through the country's Sunni heartland, as security forces fled.
Militants have been bombarded since August 8 by US air strikes in northern Iraq, but have carried out attacks elsewhere, including a renewed assault on the Baiji oil refinery, the country's largest, which was repelled by security forces on Sunday, a police officer and witnesses said.
Iraq "needs help and support from everybody all the forces against terrorism," but not in the form of troops, as "there is no shortage of fighting men," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif in Baghdad.
Zarif, on a two-day visit to Baghdad, for his part said Iran is working with Iraq, and also called for a broad effort against IS.
"We are cooperating and working with the Iraqi government and with the Kurdish government in order to repel this very serious, atrocious group," Zarif said.
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