Report: Iraqi security forces have entered ISIS-besieged Baiji oil refinery

Report: Iraqi security forces have entered ISIS-besieged Baiji oil refinery
(Image credit: Karim Mohsen/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Iraq's state-run TV broadcaster reported that Iraqi security forces have started to break a five-month siege of the nation's largest oil refinery, Baiji, by Islamic State militants. A small contingent of Iraqi forces has kept central control of the Baiji refinery out of ISIS's hands, but the siege has halted operations, forcing Iraq's government to import gas at a huge cost.

"If God is willing, Baiji will be the main key to liberating each span of Iraq," Abdel Wahab al-Sa'adi said on TV. Saleh Jaber, a colonel in the Baiji refinery protection force, told Reuters the same thing: "The first Iraqi force, the anti-terrorism force called Mosul Battalion, entered Baiji refinery for the first time in five months." If confirmed, this is a pretty sizable loss for ISIS and a promising boost for Iraq's struggling U.S.-trained army.

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.