Iraqi forces have mobilised efforts to retake the city of Baiji close to the country’s largest oil refinery controlled by IS, Reuters has reported.
The offensive looks to bypass the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which lies to the south of Baiji and is controlled by IS, and instead to focus on Baiji itself, where Iraqi forces have protected the refinery since June.
On Sunday IS staged a suicide attack on Iraqi soldiers to halt their advance on a key northern city. The group used a military vehicle to lull the government troops into a false sense of security according to officers’ accounts.
The operation was was snarled when an armored vehicle blew up near the security forces’ convoy in a village some 20 km south of Baiji, the officers said. The blast killed four soldiers and wounded seven.Â
“The attacker surprised our forces as he was driving a military armored vehicle. We thought it was our vehicle,” said an army major participating in the operation. “We are planning to retake Baiji as soon as possible to secure a key highway and to stop the daily attacks of terrorists on the Baiji refinery,” he added.
