Iraqi Government forces have seized large areas of the town of Baiji — home to Iraq’s biggest oil refinery — from Islamic State fighters, officials say.
They said the troops controlled some 50 per cent of the town, about 200km (130 miles) north of the capital Baghdad. ISIS-led militants took Baiji in June, in one of their earliest victories, but did not capture the refinery.They control large areas of Iraq and Syria. A US-led coalition has been targeting them with air strikes.
A US defence official said on Saturday that coalition strikes had targeted a gathering of ISIS leaders near Mosul in northern Iraq, destroying a convoy of vehicles. He could not confirm whether ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was present at the time of the attack on Friday. ISIS supporters have since denied the jehadis commander was there.
Iraqi security forces have used helicopters to attack the militants in Baiji. An Iraqi military official told Reuters news agency Government troops had entered Baiji from the south and west, taking control of al-Tamim neighbourhood and the city centre.