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Posted on 11/16/2014 12:17:44 PM PST by thackney
Iraqi security forces on Sunday broke the Islamic State (IS) group's months-long siege of the country's largest oil refinery in Salahudin province, a provincial security source said.
"In the early morning hours, the security forces and allied tribal fighters took full control of the sprawling Baiji refinery after they secured the roads leading to the refinery buildings and met with those troops inside who have been fighting back the attacks of IS militants for more than five months," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The army's armored vehicles deployed in the oil installation and started to expand to nearby areas, the source said.
On Saturday, the IS militants withdrew from the perimeter of the refinery and the troops seized its western and southern gates, while teams of explosive experts begun to defuse dozens of roadside bombs and mines which were planted by the extremist militants around the refinery, which is located outside the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad.
On Nov. 7, the security forces backed by allied militias and aircraft launched a major offensive and gained a foothold into the nearby town of Baiji after fierce clashes with the IS militants and since then, clashes and slow advance of the troops continued, while teams of explosive experts were working to defuse the roadside bombs.
Later on, the troops took control of the whole town of Baiji and moved to free the besieged refinery.
The capture of Baiji would let the Iraqi security forces to launch another major offensive to expel the IS militants from Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown and the capital of Salahudin province, which has been under the control of the extremist Sunni militants since June 11.
The seizure of Salahudin province was part of the June 10 drastic security deterioration in the country, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and Sunni militants who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
In June, Islamic State militants surrounded the refinery, about 110 miles north of Baghdad, trapping pro-government forces inside. But a contingent of Iraqi soldiers and government-aligned militia fighters held out against the militants, who staged repeated attacks to try to seize the terminal.
Police Brig. Gen. Khalil Ramal Ahmed said Saturday that as many as 400 members of the police force had arrived at the refinery from the south after the militants went into full retreat. But a spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a government-aligned Shiite militia with forces inside the refinery, said that the siege had not yet been broken.
Pro-government forces “are very close, just a few meters away,” spokesman Naim al-Aboudi said Saturday afternoon. He said the militants had planted dozens of improvised explosive devices to slow the government advance.
bttt
Hasn’t this refinery been “liberated” from ISIS about 5 times now?
The Sunni extremists withdrew from the perimeter of the refinery, according to the spokesperson, who said the entire town has been under the control of government forces since Friday.
The troops have not yet been able to access the refinery complex because army sappers first must clear numerous landmines that the IS placed in the vicinity.
The IS never controlled the refinery, Iraq’s largest, but the Sunni militants had placed it under siege since capturing the town of Baiji - located 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Baghdad - five months ago.
That facility has the capacity to produce 250,000 barrels of crude per day, although operations were suspended in June amid the IS’s rapid advance in northern Iraq.
Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led international coalition airstrikes, launched a large-scale operation in October to recover parts of the northern province of Saladin, including the Baiji district.
How long will this remain the case, or will ISIS grab back full control of that oil refinery before we have breakfast on Monday? The American credibility as a strong ally is greatly diminished compared to say, eight years ago. So many bad decisions have been made, so many implied covenants broken, as with Poland. Word gets around quickly these days.
Even claims in this that ISIS never really controlled it, but blocked access.
I don’t think ISIS ever had control, but their attacks/siege kept the refinery shut down since summer.
It has been a several week effort.
I doubt that the refinery is operational at this time if it is true that all access roads to it are closed.
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