Pentagon: Iraqi forces break through IS siege at oil refinery

Washington, May 23: The Pentagon announced on Friday that Iraqi forces had broken through months-long siege of the Beiji oil refinery by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and started resupplying previously beleaguered Iraqi forces within the facility. "In the past 72 hours, we have seen the Iraqi security forces make steady, measured progress in regaining some of the areas to the Beiji oil refinery despite the significant (IS) resistance in the form of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide vehicle borne IEDs, as well as heavy weapon and rocket fire attacks," Xinhua quoted Brig. General Thomas Weidley as saying in a statement. IS fighters launched one of their fiercest attack on the refinery in April and have been laying siege to about 200 Iraqi security forces there ever since. The refinery, located about 200 kms north of Baghdad, has not been working since last June. Fighting to reclaim the town of Beiji, home to the oil refinery, has long been deemed as one of the priorities by the US military.