ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A top Shiite militia commander announced Saturday his forces had faced “fierce resistance” from Islamic State in the oil-refinery city of Baiji on the main road to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Hadi Ameri, the leader of the Badr Brigade, said militants had concentrated efforts to retake the city from Iraqi joint forces as clashes intensified during the weekend in the town and in surrounding villages. “They attacked Iraqi forces with 28 car bombs in one day alone which made us retreat from some districts,” Ameri told a gathering in Baghdad on Saturday, adding the retreat was temporarily. The city’s closed oil refinery, the biggest in the country, and a large power plant have given the city strategic importance by the militants reportedly planned to use the facilities. Ameri also pointed out that Baiji’s strategic location between Mosul and Anbar province in the south is “invaluable” for the militants who want to preserve control of both areas. “If they retake Baiji, recapturing Mosul for Iraqi forces will be even more difficult than it is now,” Ameri said. At least 12 security forces were killed on Wednesday when car bombs targeted Iraqi positions in Baiji, officials said. Officials announced last week a joint force consisting of the Iraqi Army, Shiite militias anti-ISIS Sunni tribesmen will take part in the much-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul, which fell to ISIS in June last year. The fall of Mosul effectively changed the nature of the war, with the militants gaining access to financial and army resources in Iraq’s second-largest city. Officials have said the joint Iraqi force will coordinate with Kurdish Peshmerga troops as well as a special US military and consultative force based in Rabia near the Syrian border.
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