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Iraqi forces say most of Baiji town recaptured from IS
7/3/2015
Shiite fighters launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Baiji Photo: Shiite fighters launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Baiji. Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State militants from most of the northern town of Baiji and aim to drive them completely from the nearby oil refinery within days, a spokesman for the Shiite militias leading the fight has said. Islamic State fighters swept into Baiji, about 190 kilometres north of Baghdad during their lightning-quick takeover of Iraq's Sunni Muslim provinces last year. The town and refinery — the country's largest — have been battlefronts since. If the Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces regain full control around Baiji, it will facilitate a further push north towards the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, whose takeover by IS marked a tipping point in the fight last year. Ahmed al-Asadi, a Shiite spokesman, said there still remained "pockets of resistance" to the north-east and north-west of the town, and Islamic State fighters have been trying to launch attacks in response from Siniya, a small village five kilometres to the west. "I can say that over 90 per cent of [Baiji] has been cleared and the remaining areas will be done in the coming hours," Mr al-Asadi told a news conference in Baghdad.
"[IS] still controls a part of the refinery, but the more important parts are under [Iraqi control] and other branches of the armed forces.
"After these pockets of insurgents are cleared, the refinery will be surrounded from all sides and we will announce in the coming days the liberation of the refinery."
Control of the refinery has changed hands more than once since Islamic State launched its major offensive last year, and the hardline Islamist fighters have in the past been able to fight back after conceding territory.
An officer at the regional military command centre said crude oil storage tanks and pipelines at the refinery had been damaged beyond repair, while natural gas tanks and processing facilities, as well as the power station providing electricity to the refinery, had also suffered damage.
Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, iraq
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7/3/2015
Shiite fighters launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Baiji Photo: Shiite fighters launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Baiji. Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State militants from most of the northern town of Baiji and aim to drive them completely from the nearby oil refinery within days, a spokesman for the Shiite militias leading the fight has said. Islamic State fighters swept into Baiji, about 190 kilometres north of Baghdad during their lightning-quick takeover of Iraq's Sunni Muslim provinces last year. The town and refinery — the country's largest — have been battlefronts since. If the Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces regain full control around Baiji, it will facilitate a further push north towards the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, whose takeover by IS marked a tipping point in the fight last year. Ahmed al-Asadi, a Shiite spokesman, said there still remained "pockets of resistance" to the north-east and north-west of the town, and Islamic State fighters have been trying to launch attacks in response from Siniya, a small village five kilometres to the west. "I can say that over 90 per cent of [Baiji] has been cleared and the remaining areas will be done in the coming hours," Mr al-Asadi told a news conference in Baghdad.
"[IS] still controls a part of the refinery, but the more important parts are under [Iraqi control] and other branches of the armed forces.
"After these pockets of insurgents are cleared, the refinery will be surrounded from all sides and we will announce in the coming days the liberation of the refinery."
Control of the refinery has changed hands more than once since Islamic State launched its major offensive last year, and the hardline Islamist fighters have in the past been able to fight back after conceding territory.
An officer at the regional military command centre said crude oil storage tanks and pipelines at the refinery had been damaged beyond repair, while natural gas tanks and processing facilities, as well as the power station providing electricity to the refinery, had also suffered damage.
Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, iraq
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