ISIS launches attacks at Iraq’s largest oil refinery
The militant group claimed it broke into the Baiji oil refinery but the Iraqi army said the site remained under its control
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants on Saturday launched suicide attacks against the Baiji oil refinery, Iraq’s largest, a senior army officer said.
The militant group claimed it broke in but the Iraqi army said the site, which has been the scene of fierce battles since ISIS swept across the region last year, remained under its control, AFP reported.
“Today Daesh (an Arab acronym for ISIS) launched an attack against the Baiji oil refinery,” said a major general from Salaheddin province, in which Baiji is located.
He described the attack on the refinery, which lies around 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, as “the fiercest since we broke the siege a few months ago.”
The officer and other military sources said the attack was launched around 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and led to clashes.
He said ISIS militants attacked the large complex from three fronts: Al-Bujwari village to the south, the housing compound for refinery employees to the west and one of the smaller plants producing derivatives to the east.
“Three suicide attackers were able to reach the entrances of the refinery. Two were killed but one managed to blow himself up,” the army officer said.
He said that the Iraqi forces protecting the refinery regained control of the entrances and that the entire site was now under government control.
ISIS released pictures showing convoys of their Humvees attacking the refinery perimeter and of fighters apparently inside the limits of the site.
The army officer said 20 militant fighters were killed in raids by the Iraqi air force, although that figure could not be verified.
“Daesh is trying to send the message that they are everywhere but in fact they are defeated and cannot advance,” he said.
ISIS group launched a massive offensive on northwestern Iraq in June and swept across much of the country’s sunni Arab heartland within days.
Counter-terrorism and other forces tasked with protecting the vital refinery held out and remained besieged for months.
An Iraqi operation, backed by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition, eventually broke the siege in October and retook the city, which lies just south of the refinery.
The militants have since wrested the city back.
Following their victory in Tikrit earlier this month, government forces will have to re-take it once again as they continue to move north towards the main ISIS hub of Mosul.
The Baiji refinery once produced some 300,000 barrels of refined petroleum products per day, meeting 50 percent of the country’s needs.
-
Iraqi army repels ISIS attack on Baiji oil refinery
ISIS extremists have been pushed back in some areas northern Iraq Middle East -
ISIS battles Iraqi forces near Baiji refinery
ISIS fighters were present in four of Baiji's 12 neighborhoods, as well as areas on the perimeter of the sprawling refinery complex Middle East -
Iraqi security forces enter Baiji refinery
If confirmed, the recovery of the facility could provide critical momentum for government forces Middle East -
Suicide bomber kills eight in Iraqi city of Baiji
The bomber targeted a crowd gathering around soldiers who had retaken parts of the city centre Middle East -
Iraqi forces advance to try to break insurgent siege of Baiji refinery
Iraqi military forces reached the center of the northern city of Baiji to try to break an ISIS siege of the country’s biggest refinery nearby Middle East -
Iraq’s Baiji Refinery repairs to take at least a year
The Baiji Refinery was producing around 170,000 barrels per day before it was closed due to violence Business -
Four car bombs explode in Iraq’s Baiji
Reports suggest officer killed, nine soldiers were wounded Middle East -
Insurgents surround Iraq’s largest refinery in Baiji
A witness said the militants arrived in more than 50 vehicles Middle East -
Officials: Iraq forces regain full control of main refinery
About 250 to 300 workers were evacuated from Iraq’s Baiji refinery during brief truce in fighting News