(Reuters) - A
suicide bomber killed eight people including six soldiers on Tuesday in
the northern Iraqi city of Baiji where government forces are trying to
reassert control to break an Islamic State siege of the country's
largest refinery nearby. The bomber targeted a
crowd gathering around soldiers who had retaken parts of the city
center, Baiji Mayor Mohammed Mahmoud told Reuters. Security officials
said two civilians and six soldiers were killed. Islamic State insurgents seized much of northern Iraq
five months ago in an offensive in which they took Baiji and surrounded
the oil refinery, halting production and besieging a detachment of
government troops there. U.S. air strikes have slowed down the radical Sunni Muslim insurgents and enabled Iraqi security forces to make some gains. Iraqi security forces have used helicopters to attack Islamic State fighters ringing the refinery. Months
of operations have failed to rescue comrades trapped inside and ensure
the strategic site will not fall into the hands of Islamic State, who
have used oil and fuel to fund their self-proclaimed religious
caliphate. Iraqi oil industry officials estimate Islamic State is making multimillion-dollar profits from the illegal trade. Islamic State's presence in Iraq
has fueled sectarian violence which recalls the height of a civil war
in 2006-2007. It also controls parts of neighboring Syria. Earlier
on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he intends to
remove concrete barriers from Baghdad despite little sign of a respite
from car bombs they were designed to thwart. He
also said he would accord a greater role to the Interior Ministry in
securing the capital of 7 million people, suggesting he aimed to reduce
the army's presence. Baghdad, like the rest of Iraq, faces suicide and car bombings. Some are claimed by Islamic State militants. Iraqi
security forces have been fighting for weeks to contain and push back
Islamic State fighters from territory to the south, west and north of
the capital. Similar
pledges were made by former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, but only
partially implemented, and Abadi's spokesman played down any prospect of
immediate action. Baghdad's concrete barriers were first put up during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation as an insurgency began raging.
Suicide bomber kills eight in northern Iraqi city Baiji
Reuters
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.