Iraqi forces say they have driven away the Islamic State (IS) militants from around the country's largest oil refinery. It comes a day after officials said they had retaken the nearby town of Baiji, which had been under militant control since June, BBC said in a report.
The Baiji oil facility, 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, accounts for around a quarter of Iraq's oil production.
"Iraqi forces... reached the gate of the refinery," the governor of Saladin province, Raad al-Juburi said in a statement.
Al-Hadath television said security forces had entered the refinery compound, according to a Reuters report.
Fully clearing Baiji and the refinery of IS fighters would enable Iraqi forces to cut key to the militants' supply lines.
The top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, has also arrived in Iraq on an unannounced visit. It is his first trip since a US-led coalition began a campaign of airstrikes against the militants. More than 1,000 non-combat American forces are in Iraq to help train the national army. President Obama has authorised sending up to 1,500 more to support Iraqi forces.
