Iraq forces break IS siege on key oil refinery

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.