NATO to discuss Iraq crisis as US advisers fly into Baghdad

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend key NATO discussions on Iraq on June 25, the day after U.S. military advisers began moving into Baghdad as Iraqi forces battle Sunni militants.

Iraqi government troops held off Sunni insurgent attacks on a key town and an oil refinery Tuesday as Kerry pushed for unity in a conflict the UN says has killed nearly 1,100.

But those successes were marred when civilians were killed by air strikes aiming to push back Sunni Muslim insurgents, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have seized swathes of five provinces north and west of Baghdad.

The onslaught has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, alarmed world leaders and put Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki under pressure at home and abroad.

The first of up to 300 U.S. military advisers began their mission in Baghdad June 24 to help the Iraqi army, but the Pentagon said the American troops were not taking on a combat role.

The primary task of the advisers was to evaluate the state of the Iraqi forces and not to turn the tide against militants from ISIL, which have swept across western and northern Iraq, the Pentagon's press secretary said.

"This isn't about rushing to the rescue," Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. However the U.S. is ready to carry out bombing raids if called upon, Kirby added.

He also said the United States had expanded its surveillance flights over Iraq, with manned and unmanned aircraft, and now was conducting 30 to 35 sorties a day.

Kerry huddled with European allies late June 24, ahead of the key NATO talks in Brussels, after a whirlwind visit to Iraq aimed at shoring up Iraqi unity.

Shortly after flying in on a U.S. military plane, Kerry met with...