Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Refinery at Baiji Secured, but Iraq Fighting Still Rages at Ramadi

Apr 19, 2015 | Mitchell Prothero, McClatchy DC
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Iraqi security forces backed by heavy air support from the American-led coalition have secured Iraq’s largest oil refinery from a determined Islamic State offensive. But they continued to struggle to fend off Islamic State fighters trying to capture the capital of the country’s largest province.

The two battles, one in north central Iraq and the other in the country’s west, are reminders that only a few weeks after trumpeting the capture of the city of Tikrit from Islamist fighters, the primacy of Iraqi government forces is far from guaranteed.