(BAGHDAD)— Al-Qaida-inspired militants who seized large swaths of Iraq’s Sunni heartland this week have pushed into an ethnically mixed province northeast of Baghdad, capturing two towns there, officials said Friday. MoreU.S. Contractors Are Evacuating Iraq Amid Growing TurmoilMeet The Most Successful Terrorist Leader Since Osama Bin LadenIraq Violence Opens Up Old Wounds for Vets NBC NewsMelissa Fenton: 10 Ways to Give Your Kids an Honest-to-Goodness 1970s Summer Huffington PostBowe Bergdahl Arrives in Texas After Years as Taliban Prisoner NBC NewsThe fresh gains by the fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant come as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government struggles to form a coherent response after the Sunni militants blitzed and captured the country’s second-largest city of Mosul as well as other, smaller communities and military and police bases — often after meeting little resistance from state security forces. Popular Among Subscribers Ending the War on Fat Subscribe Russia, We Have a ProblemNo Soldier Left BehindThe new reality is the biggest threat to Iraq’s stability since the U.S.