Author Topic: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery  (Read 615 times)

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rangerrebew

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Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« on: June 18, 2014, 09:20:38 am »
Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery


Islamist-led militants have invaded Iraq's biggest oil refinery, after pounding it with mortars and machine guns from two directions.

An official quoted by Reuters said the militants now controlled 75% of the Baiji refinery, 210km (130 miles) north of Baghdad.

Government forces have made new air strikes on militants advancing towards the capital.

Fighting is also reported in the western city of Ramadi.

The government is battling to push back ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and its Sunni Muslim allies in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, after the militants overran the second city, Mosul, last week.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared on television with Sunni Muslim and Kurdish leaders on Tuesday to issue a call for national unity in the face of the advance - they demanded that non-state forces lay down their arms.

BBC map
However, such a call is unlikely to have much effect as Mr Maliki has openly sponsored the formation of Shia Muslim militias to fight alongside regular Iraqi troops, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Irbil in northern Iraq.

Hundreds of people have been killed since the start of the militant offensive last week, many of them believed to be captured soldiers publicly shot by ISIS-led firing squads.

During fighting in the city of Baquba this week, 44 prisoners were killed inside a police station in unclear circumstances.

In other developments:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran would not "spare any effort" to defend Shia holy shrines in Iraq against "mercenaries, murderers and terrorists"

 
The attack on the refinery started at 04:00 (01:00 GMT) from outside two of the three main entrances to the refinery, according to Reuters.

Smoke rose from a spare parts warehouse and some stores of oil were reportedly destroyed.

Foreign personnel were evacuated earlier but local staff reportedly remained in place, with the military defending the facility.

Baiji accounts for a little more than a quarter of the country's entire refining capacity, all of which goes toward domestic consumption for things like petrol, cooking oil and fuel for power stations, an official told AP news agency.

Militants in the western province of Anbar, where the capital is Ramadi, said they had made advances, with a number of police stations near the town of Hit going over to dissident tribes.

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Stories from inside Iraq refugee camp

Further north, the Iraqi government said it had recaptured the citadel in the strategic town of Tal Afar, where militants were said to have taken control on Monday.

Using unusually strong language, Mr Maliki accused Saudi Arabia - which is largely Sunni - of backing ISIS.

He also fired four army commanders for failing to halt the sweeping advance by the militants. They included the top commander for Nineveh, the first province where ISIS fighters made major gains.

With Shia areas of the capital bombed almost daily, correspondents say inhabitants of Baghdad have developed a siege mentality.

People with enough money have started to stockpile essential items of food, correspondents say, which has increased prices dramatically.



Estimated 10,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria


ISIS led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27897648
« Last Edit: June 18, 2014, 09:21:40 am by rangerrebew »

Oceander

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2014, 06:51:37 pm »
Another interesting tidbit from the linked article:

Quote
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said Tehran will not "spare any effort" to defend Shia holy shrines in Iraq against "mercenaries, murderers and terrorists".

He was speaking amid reports that the head of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qasem Soleimani, was in Baghdad to help co-ordinate the fight against the militants.


If the head of Iran's Quds Force is in Baghdad, then it is only a matter of time before what remains of Iraq becomes nothing more than a client state of, or is outright annexed by, Iran.

In other words, Iraq no longer exists as an independent country.

Offline alicewonders

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2014, 07:22:59 pm »
Another interesting tidbit from the linked article:


If the head of Iran's Quds Force is in Baghdad, then it is only a matter of time before what remains of Iraq becomes nothing more than a client state of, or is outright annexed by, Iran.

In other words, Iraq no longer exists as an independent country.

It seems Obama has been helpful to Iran lately.

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Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2014, 07:41:04 pm »
Another interesting tidbit from the linked article:


If the head of Iran's Quds Force is in Baghdad, then it is only a matter of time before what remains of Iraq becomes nothing more than a client state of, or is outright annexed by, Iran.

In other words, Iraq no longer exists as an independent country.
I can't recite the history, but have read that many of the national borders are creations of post WWI western interests.

If in the end the resulting new national interests want revenue, they still sell their oil in international markets.

What difference is it to the US, if the nation is called Iraq, or is called Kurdland, or Sunniland, or Shialand?

The same could one day take place in Saudi Arabia, where Shiites reside in oil rich provinces. Instead of intellectually and strategically camping out on the past, why not look towards a future?
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Oceander

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2014, 11:01:52 pm »
I can't recite the history, but have read that many of the national borders are creations of post WWI western interests.

If in the end the resulting new national interests want revenue, they still sell their oil in international markets.

What difference is it to the US, if the nation is called Iraq, or is called Kurdland, or Sunniland, or Shialand?

The same could one day take place in Saudi Arabia, where Shiites reside in oil rich provinces. Instead of intellectually and strategically camping out on the past, why not look towards a future?

I rather doubt the current crop are that interested in keeping your gas tank full.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2014, 11:24:50 pm »
I rather doubt the current crop are that interested in keeping your gas tank full.
The US has the resources in the ground, and the technical expertise. I seriously doubt one period in our history, and one President can hold those valuable assets back forever.

In my neck of the woods we elect Republicans, and many drive hybrids.

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Oceander

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Re: Sunni militants invade Iraq's biggest oil refinery
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2014, 04:08:36 pm »
The US has the resources in the ground, and the technical expertise. I seriously doubt one period in our history, and one President can hold those valuable assets back forever.

In my neck of the woods we elect Republicans, and many drive hybrids.



that's nice.  ISIS is still not going to sell you oil just because that's what a rational economic actor would do.