The militant offensive in Iraq is a threat to the region and the world, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.

The militant offensive in Iraq is a threat to the region and the world, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.

The crisis "represents a threat not only to Iraq but to regional and international peace", Maliki told Washington's top diplomat in Baghdad, a statement from his office said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived Monday in Baghdad  and met the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to discuss the attacks which the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has been launching since two weeks, overrunning swathes of areas, northern and western the country.

Kerry had visited Egypt and Jordan before he arrived in Iraq in the context of a Middle East trip to tackle the latest developments.

In a different context, Maliki's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta, denied the news which reported that ISIL militants controlled Tal Afar county, adding that the security forces were still fighting in the Tal Afar area.

The Iraqi army liberated 10 villages in Dayala province and kept up its operations to strike ISIL militants in the other areas.

The Iraqi army killed three ISIL members, including a leader called Abu Qatada, near Biji refinery north of Salahudine province today.

69 detainees were killed in an attack by ISIL militants on a convoy carrying them near the town of Hashimiyah, in Babil province.

One policeman and eight gunmen were also killed in clashes that erupted during the attack in the Hashimiyah area of Babil province, according to a police captain and a doctor.