500+ killed 100+ killed | ||
The Battle of Baiji (2014) was a battle between the Islamic State and the Iraqi government for the city of Baiji and the associated Baiji oil refinery. ISIS captured the city trivially in June 2014 and laid siege to the refinery, the largest in Iraq. In November 2014, Iraqi forces briefly retook the city and broke the siege. However, clashes continued and in December ISIL recaptured Baiji and restored the siege.
Contents
Background
On 11 June 2014, ISIL fighters captured Baiji, seizing the main court house and police station and setting them on fire. The militants, who were traveling in a group of around 60 vehicles, also took control of the Baiji prison and freed all the inmates within. ISIL sent a group of local tribal chiefs ahead of them as emissaries, but they failed to convince the 250 guards at the oil plant, as well as associated soldiers and police, to withdraw. After fully capturing the town, ISIS put the refinery, which is also a fertilizer plant, under siege.
ISIL attacked the refinery with mortars and machine guns on June 18, at one point capturing 75 percent of the facility. However, the next day Iraqi government forces regained full control of the facility after heavy fighting, repulsing the attack with casualties. Despite government claims of complete control, an Iraqi who drove past the refinery witnessed ISIL hanging their banners from watch towers and creating checkpoints around the facility.
ISIS attacked again on June 20 but it was repulsed. Iraqi security forces repelled several more attempts to take the refinery between June and October 2014.
Advance into the city and to the refinery
On 29 October 2014, Iraqi government forces and allied militias advanced to within 2 km of the city outskirts. On 31 October, Iraqi forces entered the town and captured two neighborhoods, but their operations were halted due to a triple ISIL suicide-attack followed by a ground assault on the Army headquarters at Tikrit University further south.
On November 4, two British Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft flying in support of Iraqi ground forces attacked and destroyed an Islamic State pickup truck using a Brimstone missile. On November 7, police Major general Faisal Ahmed was killed by a suicide truck bomber in the city. Two days later, Iraqi forces captured more of the city. Using attack helicopters as air support, they entered the city from the south and the west, capturing some of the city center and the al-Tamim neighbourhood. Iraqi forces had control of 40% of the city center with non-stop clashes in the area. This left ISIL forces stranded between the city and the refinery, but Iraqi forces could only advance slowly due to car-bomb attacks. On 10 November 10, a British MQ-9 Reaper drone fired a Hellfire missile at a group of ISIL militants who were laying improvised explosive devices in the area. On 11 November, an ISIL suicide bomber killed eight people in the city center after a large crowd of people had gathered around Iraqi soldiers.
On 14 November, the Army took full control of the city. The next day, Iraqi forces reached the facility's gates, breaking the ISIL siege. Three days later, state TV aired footage of soldiers entering the Baiji refinery for the first time in months. The US Department of State congratulated the Iraqi forces for retaking the country's largest oil refinery. By this point, it seemed that the demoralized Iraqi Army had scored a badly needed, decisive victory.
Fighting continues and ISIL counterattack
However, fighting in the city center continued, with the Islamic State present in 4 of Baiji's 12 neighborhoods on November 25. In addition, the militants continued to hold positions at the refinery's perimeter.
ISIL recaptured seven neighborhoods between 13 and 18 December, including the central part of the city. ISIS surrounded Iraqi government forces, waited until they ran out of ammunition, then forced them to retreat. On 21 December, ISIL fighters recaptured the entire city and re-established the siege of the oil refinery. Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militia fighters launched an unsuccessful assault on the city two days later.