Army repels ISIL from Baiji Refinery
Baiji (IraqiNews.com) al-Qaeda aligned fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL attacked Iraq’s largest oil refinery late Tuesday, seizing up to 75% of the refinery by some accounts, before being repelled by Iraqi security forces after an overnight battle, Iraqi Army spokesman Qassim Atta said Wednesday.
ISIL fighters began an attack late Tuesday night, but clashes continued into Wednesday morning. There were unconfirmed reports that ISIL managed to seize up to 75% of the refinery, but in messages posted on their Facebook page, the Iraqi Special Operations force vehemently denied the claims.
Iraqi Special Forces, backed up by air support, destroyed an ISIL convoy and gunned down three ISIL snipers during a failed attempt by the group to break into the Baiji refinery, according to the special operations force, part of Iraq’s Interior Ministry which is in charge of security across the country.
Chief military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Qassim Atta, later said government forces had repelled the attack and that 40 attackers were killed in fighting.
Operations at the sprawling complex were halted and its foreign staff evacuated on Tuesday shut down due to the threat.
In a televised address on Wednesday, meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government had regained the initiative after the “shock” defeat of its army and security forces by ISIL in the country’s north.
“We were able to contain the strike and arrest deterioration. We have now started our counteroffensive, regaining the initiative and striking back,” al-Maliki said.
Al-Maliki’s optimistic assessment was declared as the army claimed its forces had regained parts of the strategic city of Tal Afar near the Syrian border, which ISIL fighters captured Monday. Its closeness to the Syrian border strengthens the Islamic State’s plan to carve out an “Islamic Emirate” stretching across the Iraq-Syria border.
The refinery in Baiji processes Iraqi oil into gasoline and other products for domestic consumption, and officials have said there are sufficient petroleum products stockpiled to last the nation weeks, but the attack on the key oil infrastructure highlights the threat posed by ISIL to the north and west of Baghdad.