The Iraqi army and volunteer forces seized full control over Beiji oil refinery in Salahuddin province on Wednesday evening after killing ISIS top military commander in the region, Abu Soleiman al-Askari. The Iraqi forces launched massive operations to win back the city of Beiji on Wednesday morning and they captured the strategic village of al-Rabee in the first hour of their operations. The army and volunteer forces launched the Beiji Freedom Operation by approaching the city from three different directions. The ISIS terrorists have over 80 percent of the Beiji under their control and winning back the city will pave the way for the Iraqi forces to move towards Mosul, the main ISIS stronghold in Iraq. The Iraqi forces then entered Beiji from the Northern parts of the city and took control of its ice-making factory. Later, they could push back the ISIS terrorists from towers 15 and 16 of the refinery and they could eventually prevail over the entire refinery less than an hour ago. Meantime, Iraq's counterterrorism unit announced that ISIS top military commander in Beiji region Abu Soleiman al-Askari has been killed in the heavy clashes with the Iraqi forces over the refinery. On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi issued the order on starting the second phase of military operation to seize back the Salahuddin province. The Iraqi forces started operations to purge Beiji of terrorists few months ago, and later took full control of the city, its refinery and its surrounding areas. But in early September reports said that the Takfiri terrorists took back some parts of Beiji after two weeks of heavy attacks on the region. In March, the Iraqi army and volunteer forces took full control of Tikrit, capital of Salahuddin. The ISIS terrorists are still present in the city of Mosul in Nineveh province and the city of Ramadi in Anbar province as fierce battles are still underway to seize back the cities.
