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IS torches oil field in Tikrit
Highlights
Islamic State (ISIS) militants have set fire to oil wells in northeast of the city of Tikrit, a witness said, to obstruct an assault by Shia militia fighters and Iraqi soldiers trying to drive them from the Sunni city and surrounding towns.
Baghdad: Islamic State (ISIS) militants have set fire to oil wells in northeast of the city of Tikrit, a witness said, to obstruct an assault by Shia militia fighters and Iraqi soldiers trying to drive them from the Sunni city and surrounding towns.
The witness and a military source said the ISIS fighters ignited the fire at the Ajil oil field to shield themselves from attack by Iraqi military helicopters.
The offensive is the biggest Iraqi forces have yet mounted against IS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate on captured territory in Iraq and Syria and spread fear across the region by slaughtering Arab and Western hostages and killing or kidnapping members of religious minorities like Yazidis and Christians.
Black smoke could be seen rising from the oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east.
Control of the oil fields has played an important role in funding ISIS, even if it lacks the technical expertise to run them. Before ISIS took over Ajil last June, it produced 25,000 barrels of crude per day.
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