Live Blog: The struggle for Iraq

A bomb has gone off in a weapons bazaar in eastern Syria close to the Iraqi border, killing 30 people Syria’s state television reported.

"A big explosion hits a terrorist arms market in Mayadeen, killing 30 terrorists and wounding dozens of others," the television reported, using the same language it uses to brand all opposition fighters.

A rebel spokesman from Deir Ezzor province, however, contested the television's report. He told AFP the blast was a car bomb planted by ISIL and that it killed at least 15 civilians.

The town is just 80 kilometres from the Iraqi border, the town is under the control of rebel groups, including al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate the al-Nusra Front, that have been fighting ISIL. 

An Iranian news site reports that a group of Shiite Houthi rebels from Yemen has arrived in Iraq to defend Iraq’s Shiite shrines.

According to Amariyun, a site affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the Houthis travelled to Iraq and have taken up positions in Najaf, a city roughly 160 kilometres south of Baghdad considered the political axis for Iraq’s Shiite population.

News site Arabi21 reports that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is already undertaking operations in Iraq alongside the Iraqi army and a loose coalition of Shiite fighters. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced that the cabinet has granted him “unlimited powers” to allow him to combat the crisis crippling Iraq, “a sacred country that cannot be defiled by ISIL gangs.”

In a statement released on his website late on Friday, Maliki spoke of the “unified position” of politicians, as well as the army and police forces.

Parliament on Thursday met to discuss imposing a state of emmergency but Maliki failed to gain the mandate after only 128 out of 325 Iraqi MPs showed up for the special session. 

Events have unfolded quickly in Iraq since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched an offensive in Mosul on Monday night. 

Here is a quick recap of what has happened over the past week:

• ISIL have taken control of Mosul, Tikrit and Samarra
• The Kurdish Peshmerga are in control of Kirkuk 
• On Tuesday, Prime MInister Nuri al-Maliki called for a state of emergency to be declared, but the country's parliament failed to reach a quorum on Thursday to allow it to vote
• More than 500,000 refugees ahave reportedly fled northern Iraq
• The UN Security Council is convening a meeting to discuss the crisis
• US officials have been reportedly mulling over the idea of launching drone strikes on the militants
• On Friday, Ayatollah Sistani and other Shiite clerics implored civilians to take up arms against Sunni militants