Reports say more than 500 British nationals have been recruited to join the Takfiri militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operating in Syria and Iraq.
The Takfiri extremists are said to have been brainwashed by individuals allegedly linked to the MI5.
Iraqi officials have repeatedly warned against Western plots and Takfiris’ efforts to ignite conflict in Muslim countries.
Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had previously called for unity among all people and an end to divisions among religious sects and ethnicities in Iraq.
“We support the demands of the people, but I urge them to safeguard Iraq’s unity,” Sadr said earlier at Abdul Qadir Gilani Mosque.
On June 10, the Takfiri militants of the ISIL took control of the city of Mosul, the provincial capital of Nineveh. They later took control of the city of Tikrit, which is located about 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi soldiers and volunteer forces have been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants on different fronts in the country ever since.
