Iraq claims key victory over IS
Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) recaptured the heart and outlying districts of the town of Beiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery, state television and a provincial governor said Tuesday. Retaking Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, could allow Iraqi forces a base to attack neighboring Tikrit, taken […]Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) recaptured the heart and outlying districts of the town of Beiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery, state television and a provincial governor said Tuesday. Retaking Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, could allow Iraqi forces a base to attack neighboring Tikrit, taken by the extremists in their lightning advance this summer. But troops backed by Shiite militias faced pockets of stiff resistence around Beiji, hindering their advance.
State television quoted the top army commander in Beiji, Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, as saying troops recaptured the city's local government and police headquarters at the center of the town. It aired what appeared to be archival footage of the town showing Iraqi army troops firing their weapons from behind sand barriers. Al-Saadi later spoke to state television by telephone but the line appeared to be cut off after he said his forces were meeting stiff resistance.
