Iraq: Iraq Claims to Have Taken Key Oil Facility – Again

Oct 15, 2015 | Mitchell Prothero, McClatchey DC
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Iraqi security forces claimed Thursday to have taken control of most of the nearly completely destroyed oil refinery in the strategic central Iraqi city of Baiji, as a mix of army and militias continued to battle Islamic State forces to end a long struggle for the town. The Iraqi government has claimed multiple times before to have secured the facility, so the substance or durability of the gains cannot be established. But military advisers and analysts say that even if the proclaimed victory lasts this time, it’s likely a Pyrrhic one.