BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's army sent tanks and armoured vehicles to try to dislodge insurgents from the northern city of Tikrit on Sunday, the second day of a pushback against a Sunni militant takeover of large stretches of Iraq.
The hardline Sunni group leading the insurgency, until Sunday known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), declared itself a "caliphate" on Sunday and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance - a move analysts saw as a direct challenge to al Qaeda, which disowned ISIL in February, and to Gulf Arab rulers.
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