Armed militant groups on Tuesday took control of more towns in Iraq's oil-rich province of Kikruk after they seized the country's second largest city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, a provincial police source said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of gunmen stormed the predominantly Arab towns of Hawijah, Zab, Riyadh, Abbasi and Rashad in south and west of the city of Kikruk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The militants seized the towns without resistance by the Iraqi security forces, the source said, adding that the soldiers and policemen withdrew before the arrival of the militant groups.

The fall of the towns came despite a decision taken earlier in the day by the provincial authorities to tighten security measures across the province after the gunmen seized the city of Mosul.

Earlier in the day, insurgent groups took full control of the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, and expanded later to other areas after the Iraqi security forces withdrew from the city. Endi

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