Iraq army thwarts ISIL attack on Baiji

The Iraqi army, backed by Sunni tribesmen and Shia volunteers, has countered an attack by the ISIL terrorist group on the country’s largest oil refinery.

The successful operation by the Iraqi army on Tuesday came after the Takfiri militants launched an attack on the Baiji refinery near the town of Tikrit in the northern province of Salahuddin.

The militants fired dozens of rockets toward the refinery and caused damage to the facility, however. The Takfiri militant temporarily took control of the oil refinery back in June. The Iraqi armed forces, however, reestablished control over Baiji later in the month.

Following the Takfiris’ assault, Iraqi warplanes bombarded the militants’ hideouts around the Baiji refinery.

Iraqi security forces, along with tribesmen and volunteers, eventually managed to push back the Takfiri militants.

Dozens of ISIL Takfiri terrorists were killed in the operation, and many others were injured.

The Baiji refinery has recently been the site of several battles between government forces and militants.

Over the past few weeks, Iraqi forces have killed a large number of Takfiri terrorists in their mop-up operations across the crisis-hit country.

The ISIL terrorists that control large swathes of Syria’s east and north, sent its Takfiri militants into Iraq in June, seizing large parts of land straddling the border between Syria and Iraq.

The Takfiri terrorist group has committed heinous crimes and threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and Izadi Kurds, during its advances.

Senior Iraqi officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and some other Persian Gulf Arab states for the terrorism in their country.

IA/HJL/HRB