Iraqi forces stage tit-for-tat battles to regain oil refinery town

Iraqi security forces on Sunday retook control of most of the town of Baiji near the country's largest oil refinery in Salahudin province after fierce clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source said.

The troops and allied militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization, entered the central part of Baiji, some 200 km north of the capital of Baghdad, after hours of fierce overnight clashes with the extremist militants, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops and allied militias are advancing from three directions to free all the small remaining pockets of resistance in the town to move later toward the battleground oil refinery of Baiji, just north of the town, the source said.

Meanwhile, sporadic clashes continued in the partially IS-held oil refinery of Baiji, while tit-for-tat battles continued between the IS militants and the security forces at the bank of Tigris River in east of Baiji, the source added.

The battles in Baiji and the nearby oil refinery came a week after the town's mayor, Mohammed Hammed, told Xinhua that the troops freed several villages outside the town and were preparing to recapture it.

Since March 2, dozens of thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants. Endit