Iraqi autonomous region now under crisis alert level 2

In this photo taken on June 17, 2014, an Iraqi woman buys food at a market in Baghdad, Iraq. While the Iraqi capital is not under any immediate threat of falling to the Sunni militants who have captured a wide swath of the country’s north and west, battlefield setbacks and the conflict’s growing sectarian slant is turning this city of 7 million into an anxiety-filled place waiting for disaster to happen. AP

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has raised crisis alert level 2 in the Kurdistan region in Iraq following the previous crisis alert level 4 raised for the rest of the country.

Kurdistan is an autonomous region in the northern border of Iraq and is where majority of the 900 Filipinos in Iraq are located.

“In view of the growing security threats in and around Kurdistan, the DFA has raised crisis alert level 2 (restriction phase) for the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” DFA said in a statement Monday.

“Filipinos in Kurdistan are instructed to restrict non-essential movements, avoid public places, and take extra precaution,” it said.

Iraq is faced with a growing insurgency that threatens to overrun the capital city of Baghdad, prompting the DFA to raise crisis alert level 4 in the country which entails mandatory repatriation and total deployment ban.

The United States (US) has deployed 275 soldiers to the country in order to protect the US embassy in Baghdad.

The armed rebel group calling itself Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has already captured a large part of the country including several towns around Baghdad.

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