Posted on 03/05/2015 10:47:27 AM PST by thackney
Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells in the Ajil field east of the city of Tikrit to try to hinder aerial attacks aimed at driving them from the oilfield, a witness and military source said.
Black smoke could be seen rising from oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east.
Before the Islamic State took over the field in June it produced 25,000 barrels per day of crude that were shipped to the Kirkuk refinery, as well as 150 million cubic feet of gas per day piped to the government-controlled Kirkuk power station.
An engineer at the site told Reuters last July that Islamic State fighters were pumping lower volumes of oil from Ajil, fearing that their primitive extraction techniques could ignite the gas.
Bombing in August damaged the Ajil field's control room, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Ajil lies about 35 km (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit. Shi'ite militia fighters from the Iran-backed Badr Organisation and Iraqi soldiers are advancing through the area as part of a coordinated assault on the Islamic State-held Sunni Muslim city.
The article above was excerpted for Reuters.
I forgot to click the box...
Control of oil fields has played an important part in funding Islamic State, even if it lacks the technical expertise to run them at full capacity.
Before IS took over Ajil last June, the field produced 25,000 barrels per day of crude that were shipped to the Kirkuk refinery to the north-east, as well as 150 million cubic feet of gas per day piped to the government-controlled Kirkuk power station.
An engineer at the site, about 35 km (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, told Reuters last July that Islamic State fighters were pumping lower volumes of oil from Ajil, fearing that their primitive extraction techniques could ignite the gas.
Bombing in August damaged the Ajil field’s control room, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The outcome of the battle for Tikrit, best known as the home town of executed Sunni president Saddam Hussein, will determine whether and how fast the Iraqi forces can advance further north and attempt to win back Mosul, the biggest city under Islamic State rule.
Kinani said the pro-government forces had surrounded Tikrit on three sides and had the situation “under control”. He said the assault would involve fighters crossing the Tigris river to the north of the city, and attacks from the east from Ajil and from northern Samarra towards the south of Tikrit.
He said the bulk of the forces were from the Hashd al-Shaabi, but he declined to give specific figures for the number of troops. The initial force earmarked for the offensive consisted of 27,000, with about 9,000 expected to lead the campaign. A force comprising Sunni tribal fighters allied with the government was expected to pacify the town, and another group was meant to repatriate internally displaced refugees and gather intelligence.
Kinani said Isis had deployed suicide bombers in vehicles as a primary weapon to hold off the advance. He said another difficulty was the numerous booby traps and IEDs set up by Isis in various neighbourhoods in the city. But he insisted Isis was quickly losing morale and ammunition.
Others said the advance was likely to take longer. “There was initial optimism in lots of circles that Tikrit would be liberated within a few days, but that was very unrealistic,” said Zaid al-Ali, author of The Struggle for Iraq’s Future, a study of the country’s post-invasion decline. “Isis has been entrenching itself in the town for eight months and has booby-trapped the whole place.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/05/iraq-pro-government-forces-struggle-topple-isis-tikrit
excerpted
A military operation to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) has caused about 28,000 people to flee their homes, the UN says.
Those displaced are headed towards the city of Samarra, the UN said, but many families are stranded at checkpoints.
Aid convoys carrying relief supplies are being sent to the area by UN agencies to help those affected.
The operation to retake Tikrit, involving some 30,000 soldiers and Shia militiamen, is now in its fourth day.
They are trying to encircle the IS fighters, but their advance has been slow due to the roadside bombs and booby traps planted since the city was overrun last June, says the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut.
Iraqi jets and helicopters are supporting the ground troops but US-led coalition aircraft are not involved.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31753727
excerpted
Is the “Occupy Iraq” crowd going to have a massive protest and bring awareness to the pollution ISIS is now causing...and contributing to the Earth’s rising temperatures...or is the rising temp’s caused by the massive amount of heat generated off the swelled heads of the elected officials???
Maybe we should send the head of the EPA over to threaten them with fines for Excess Carbon being emitted? Meanwhile Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio are having convulsions.
Those terrorists are causing global warming, so why do the academic-government-business bosses blame us?
;-)
If there is any truth to that map showing areas of ‘Islamic control’, then it looks to me that the IF, and the KP have an advantage to ending ISIS, that they don’t “see”.
Burning the oilfields is like a smoke signal. It only helps in locating you. Satan may be evil, but, he is not SMART.
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