Militants from Islamic State, a breakaway al-Qaeda group, took control of two oil fields and some predominantly Kurdish towns in northern Iraq following clashes, according to the Northern Oil Co. The Ain Zala and Batma oil fields, which together have an output of 30,000 barrels per day, are under full control of the group, according to a statement by the state-run Northern Oil Co. The Sunni Islamist militants last month occupied the Qayyara oil field north of Baghdad. Islamic State, which was previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, has seized territory in northern and western Iraq, taking over oil wells and fighting for control of refineries. Islamic State fighters continued their advance yesterday, taking over the village of Wana, south of the Mosul dam, according to Hisham al-Brefkani, a member of the provincial council of Nineveh. A retreat by Kurdish fighters from the village was a […]