The internal strife and civil war spurred by the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 is escalating rapidly.

The Sunni militia that has staked a claim to areas on both sides of the Iraq/Syria border is expanding its military campaign against the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as it moved southward on Wednesday following a decisive victory in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday.

Known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the powerful military force has proven capable of overwhelming the Iraqi Army as it has gained ground in numerous provinces in the west and north-central regions.  Iraq’s parliament declared a national state of emergency at the request of al-Maliki on Tuesday. Government officials in the country are now calling for a large-scale and immediate military response to the ISIL threat.

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(12:11 PM EST): City of Tikrit falls; Turkish diplomatic mission kidnapped

The Associated Press is reporting that ISIL militants have now taken control of the city of Tikrit, just 100 miles north of Baghdad, after government “soldiers and security forces abandoned their posts following clashes with the insurgents.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily confirms that 48 Turkish citizens and members of the nation’s diplomatic envoy, including the Consul General, have been taken hostage by the ISIL after their mission was overrun in Mosul.

The New York Times provided this map to show the regions where ISIL militants have been able to gain territory over the last several days in addition to areas they’ve held for months:

According to International Organization for Migration, approximately 500,000 Iraqis have fled the city of Mosul in order to escape the expected battle between government forces and the ISIL, who follow an extremist Islamic philosophy.

On Wednesday, the insurgents claimed to have taken control of the entire province of Nineveh, Agence France-Presse reported, and there were reports of militants executing government soldiers in the Kirkuk region.

Speaking from Athens, Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshya Zebari called for immediate military retaliation to reclaim Mosul and other areas, saying, “The response has to be soon. There has to be a quick response to what has happened.”

Additional reporting revealed that ISIL forces moved south overnight to the town of Baiji, home to a key oil refinery and power plant that supplies electricity to key areas in the south, including Baghdad and other large cities.