Iraq: Iraqi Officials Claim Control of Major Refinery in Baiji

Jun 19, 2014 | Alissa J. Rubin and Suadad Al-Salhy, The New York Times
View Original

BAGHDAD — Iraqi government officials claimed on Thursday that Sunni militants had retreated from a major refinery in Baiji after intense fighting for more than two days, but it was still unclear who was in control and the facility remained shut down.An Iraqi military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta, as well as a local official in Baiji said government troops had beaten back the militants. Eyewitnesses who drove by the plant, however, said the militants’ black flags were still flying inside. Local workers in the refinery who had escaped the fighting said militants still controlled part of the grounds, but government forces were also inside the sprawling facility and controlled slightly more than half the complex.