This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
Iraqi government forces claimed to have advanced yesterday in Baiji, seizing control of about half the town from Islamic State (Isis) fighters.
Baiji, which is 130 miles north of Baghdad, is home to Iraq’s biggest oil refinery, but when Isis occupied the town in June it did not capture the refinery.
Salahuddin province Deputy Governor Jasim al-Attia said that the government offensive from the south and west into the city centre had been assisted by helicopter attacks.
He added that the Isis militants were stranded between the refinery under the control of the Iraqi security forces and army troops arriving in numbers.
Government forces were advancing slowly because of roadside bombs and car bomb attacks, Mr Attia explained.
A suicide bomber killed at least eight people, including top police officer Lieutenant General Faisal Malik al-Zamel, in Baiji on Friday when he targeted a military convoy.
