The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) seized several areas in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Salaheddin provinces on Tuesday, a police officer said, after the militants took control of a whole province to its west.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) seized several areas in Iraq's Kirkuk and  Salaheddin provinces on Tuesday, a police officer said, after the militants took control of a whole province to its west.

ISIL militants overran the Hawijah, Zab, Riyadh and Abbasi areas west of the city of Kirkuk, and Rashad and Yankaja to its south, Colonel Ahmed Taha said.

The militants moved into Siniyah and Sulaiman Bek, both located north of Baghdad.

It came after ISIL from the same group seized control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and the surrounding province of Nineveh earlier on Tuesday.

Nineveh, long a militant stronghold and one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, shares a border with part of western Kirkuk province, which is located north of Baghdad.

International Condemnations

Iran has strongly condemned terrorist attack on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, saying the spread of terrorist moves in Iraq is a flagrant example of the “transnational threat” of terrorism.

"Jihadists" who have seized Iraq's second city of Mosul pose a threat to the entire region, the United States warned Tuesday, voicing deep concern about the "serious situation."

"It should be clear that ISIL is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concern Tuesday about the "jihadist" takeover of Iraq's second city of Mosul, calling on political leaders to unite in the face of threats.