Iraqi Shiite militias told FRANCE 24 they had retaken control of the centre of Baiji, home to Iraq’s largest oil refinery, after months of battling Islamic State group militants for control of the strategic city.

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Iraqi Shiite militias and federal police wrested control of Baiji city centre from Islamic State militants on Sunday after weeks of intense fighting, Shiite fighters told FRANCE 24 as they made their way through the ruins of the city.

“There wasn’t much resistance. They are cowards. Some were killed, others fled,” said Chassib, one of the fighters.

“It didn’t feel like a difficult mission. We did kill some of the jihadists and have taken away their bodies, but we didn’t take any prisoners.”

The Pentagon said that Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, have opened supply lines into the city and the oil refinery but that it was not yet ready to declare the area “liberated”, according to Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Defense Department spokesman.

Iraqi troops broke through to a contingent of their forces who had been dug in at the northwest corner of the refinery for several months and were able to deliver equipment and personnel to the men on the ground.

Warren said the troops moving towards the oil refinery were primarily conventional Iraqi security forces.

The so-called Popular Mobilisation Forces, Shiite militias operating under the control of the Iraqi government, made up a majority of the units operating in Baiji city centre, he said.

Jihadist supply route



The northern Iraqi city lies along the main road to Mosul, an Islamic State group stronghold, making it a strategic hub that the jihadists had previously used to transport weapons and supplies.

“This is the most direct route between Ramadi and Mosul, and Baiji was the distribution centre, or the heart, of support. We’ve removed that vital organ,” said al Kouroui, a fighter.

The victory marked the second time that Iraqi forces have recaptured Baiji – after retaking the city last year, a subsequent onslaught from Islamic State group rebels forced them to retreat.

The city still faces dangers from the hundreds of homemade bombs that Islamic State group militants have hidden through Baiji, which once housed as many as 200,000 residents who have since fled.

FRANCE 24 witnessed one bomb that detonated near the Town Hall, but a fighter just shrugged it off. “It’s nothing. There’s nothing to see,” he said.

Islamic State jihadists controlled about half of Baiji before the approach of the Iraqi Shiite militias. As the Shiite fighters advanced, the Islamic State militants set the city on fire, gutting its infrastructure and leaving the Iraqis to face the colossal task of rebuilding.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

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