BAIJI, Salahaddin Province - The Islamic State group torched a number of oil tanks on Friday in the refinery city of Baiji as Iraqi security forces moved in on the extremists from three sides, a provincial security official told Rudaw. “These sites are highly explosive. They are full of hydrogen, nitrogen and oil products,” said Jassim Jabara, head of the Salahaddin province security committee. “Unfortunately, ISIS gunmen reached numbers of oil tanks and have burned them all in Baiji,” he added. Iraq’s largest oil refineries are located near the disputed city of Baiji, which was partially over-taken by Islamic State fighters during heavy fighting this week The US military said Thursday that eight of 19 airstrikes carried out in Iraq that night were against ISIS militias in the Baiji area. Despite the ongoing campaign of Iraqi joint forces to clear Anbar province of ISIS, the main focus of US is reportedly on protecting Baiji. US General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday the coalition forces have used airborne intelligence, surveillance and bombing to protect the oil refineries, The Islamic State released a propaganda video on April 14 showing what it claimed were ISIS fighters in control of parts of the Baiji oil refinery. The city of Baiji was captured by ISIS in June, but the large refinery remained under the control of the Iraqi army’s Golden Brigade. Despite months of heavy battles, ISIS fighters have maintained control of areas outside the oil facility.
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