The Islamic insurgents that captured two major cities in northern Iraq last week have claimed on Twitter to have executed 1,700 Iraqi government soldiers, supporting their claim with graphic photos.

At a press conference this afternoon, President Obama said that he's still considering responses to the escalating crisis in Iraq, where Sunni militants are gaining ground by the hour. While officials have said that he's considering airstrikes, Obama was clear at the conference that any military decision would be contingent on the Iraqi government's plan for follow-up action.

Sunni insurgents advancing towards Baghdad took two more towns in Iraq last night, seizing control of Saadiyah and Jalawla as Iraqi security forces reportedly abandoned their posts without a fight.

In the past week, Al Qaeda-connected Islamic militants have attacked multiple cities across Iraq and are rapidly consolidating power in the nation that the United States spent so much blood and treasure trying to stabilize. The situation is dire and dynamic. Here's some of what we know.

Mosul—Iraq's third-largest city, urbane center of the nation's northern regions, built on the remains of the once-great Assyrian empire, made free through the sacrifices of thousands of Iraqis, Kurds, and Americans—fell to a gang of Islamist insurgents Monday.