Iraq:Iraq Retakes Strategic Oil Town from Extremists

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Iraqi forces recaptured the strategic oil town of Baiji Friday in a significant victory over the "ISIL" group, as the UN accused the extremists of crimes against humanity in neighboring Syria.

Iraq Retakes Strategic Oil Town from Extremists

Baiji is the largest town to be retaken by government troops since "ISIL"-led militants overran much some of Iraq's territories.

The northern town, which had been out of government control for months, is located near Iraq's main oil refinery on the main highway to the "ISIL"-held second city of Mosul.

"Iraqi forces were able to regain complete control of the town of Baiji," Ahmed al-Krayim, the head of the Salaheddin provincial council, said.

Soldiers, police, Shiite militiamen and tribesmen were all involved in the operation to retake Baiji, and are now pushing farther north, Krayim said.

"Iraqi forces are on their way to the Baiji refinery," north of the town, where security forces have held out against repeated jihadist attacks, he said.
Breaking through to the massive refinery would be another significant win for the government in Baghdad.

On Friday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria released its first report focused squarely on "ISIL" crimes, presenting a horrifying picture of what life is like in areas controlled by the extremist extremists, including massacres, beheadings, torture, sexual enslavement and forced pregnancy.

"The commanders of "ISIL" have acted willfully, perpetrating these war crimes and crimes against humanity with clear intent of attacking persons with awareness of their civilian or 'hors de combat' (non-combat) status," the report said.

The operation to retake Baiji began more than four weeks ago when security forces and pro-government fighters started advancing towards the town from the south, slowed by bombs militants had planted on the way, and finally entered on October 31.

The nearby Baiji refinery once produced some 300,000 barrels of refined petroleum products per day, meeting 50 percent of the country's needs, but it would take time before it could be brought back online.

The town's recapture was marred by a suicide bombing Friday that targeted a military command headquarters set up at Tikrit University, south of Baiji, killing at least four people, army officers said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's government has made progress on one of those fronts, reaching an initial agreement with the country's autonomous Kurdish region to ease long-running disputes over finances and oil.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team