ISIS overpowers Iraqi Forces at Baiji refinery - Largest refinery in Iraq....

This is not good.....seems ISIS is making all kinds of advances today. They have now taken over the largest oil refinery in Iraq...odd this is not all over the news yet....

Source

BAGHDAD - Fighters from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group have made their largest incursion yet into the Baiji refinery, seizing most of the compound from pro-government security forces who have been hampered by inconsistent supply lines and incoherent strategic planning.

Several security officials based in Salahaddin province – including one soldier from the 5th Brigade of the federal police who was reached by phone inside the refinery – said hundreds of fighters from the IS group (which is often referred to as "Daesh" in Arabic) have intensified their attacks over the past two days, using several car and truck bombs, suicide attackers, rockets, and heavy artillery.

"We have very little food and ammunition, and we can't withstand the suicide bombers, snipers and rockets," said the federal police officer, who was trapped inside the refinery along with about 50 other police as of Thursday evening. "All of us now are thinking of committing suicide."

And according to the wiki on Baji:

Baiji (Arabic: بيجي‎; also spelled Bayji) is a city of about 200,000 inhabitants in northern Iraq. It is located some 130 miles north of Baghdad, on the main road to Mosul. It is a major industrial centre best known for its oil refinery, the biggest in Iraq, and has a large power plant. With regards to transport in the area, Baiji is a junction of the national railway network.

So it is a junction of the national railway....how much havoc can they wreak on shipments coming though and how much is transported through there?

This quote from the story, in particular, is very unsettling to me:

"We have very little food and ammunition, and we can't withstand the suicide bombers, snipers and rockets," said the federal police officer, who was trapped inside the refinery along with about 50 other police as of Thursday evening. "All of us now are thinking of committing suicide."

So 50 of them are considering suicide versus being taken prisoner by ISIS....I can't imagine the terror they must be going through right now....that is not a decision I would ever want to be forced to make.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Would it be possible to cause a large explosion in that place? If they are going to commit suicide, I reckon waiting until ISIS were literally outside and making everything go BOOM! may be a good course of action.

I know that sounds cold, but if they are going to go, they may as well take out as many of those little tosspots that they can.

Captured by ISIS is not an option, that can't be pleasant.

originally posted by: woogleuk
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Would it be possible to cause a large explosion in that place? If they are going to commit suicide, I reckon waiting until ISIS were literally outside and making everything go BOOM! may be a good course of action.

I know that sounds cold, but if they are going to go, they may as well take out as many of those little tosspots that they can.

Captured by ISIS is not an option, that can't be pleasant.

Didn't think of that.....I would guess it is possible. Could even be a contingency plan that was made. If they do, I am sure that will make headlines....

The iraqi commanders can kill them as a mercy so they do not have to commit suicide.

originally posted by: yuppa
The iraqi commanders can kill them as a mercy so they do not have to commit suicide.

Well their options are all very disheartening. What happened to ISIS being so small nobody needed to worry? Seems to me they are a lot larger, better trained and gaining a lot more support and ground than a supposed small force should be able to do.

a reply to: Vasa Croe
Baiji refinery is a constant target by IS.
It would generate them massive oil revenue if they took it.
They would sell the oil cheap as usual,so any fool would buy it.
They already sell loads of dodgy IS oil.
Some of that oil ends up in the west being consumed by the civilians of europe and the usa.
Cheap cheap..

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: Vasa Croe
Baiji refinery is a constant target by IS.
It would generate them massive oil revenue if they took it.
They would sell the oil cheap as usual,so any fool would buy it.
They already sell loads of dodgy IS oil.
Some of that oil ends up in the west being consumed by the civilians of europe and the usa.
Cheap cheap..

Well, it appears as if they have taken it except for the south gate. If those inside are already talking of suicide I would say hope is lost that they can fight ISIS off any longer. Especially if there are only 50 of them.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Its a huge facility,so lets hope the south gate is well defended.
There's no real hope of the Allies giving air support here,as the whole refinery would burn.
Evil IS count on that fact.

There is only one other option.
Special forces.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Its a huge facility,so lets hope the south gate is well defended.
There's no real hope of the Allies giving air support here,as the whole refinery would burn.
Evil IS count on that fact.

There is only one other option.
Special forces.

Just read that the forces inside are pleading for help through a tv station. This is really sad. I don't think the south gate stands a chance. I think I read that there are only 200 soldiers there and ISIS has much larger numbers. Reportedly they have been utilizing heavy suicide bombings and snipers to take the refinery.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

It's not odd that its not getting a lot of coverage in the news. ISIS feeds on success stories, they depend on it for recruitment, funding etc.

Governments are working very hard on their InfoOps, highlighting ISIS losses and failures, while doing their best to undermine reporting of ISIS successes.

originally posted by: fedeykin
a reply to: Vasa Croe

It's not odd that its not getting a lot of coverage in the news. ISIS feeds on success stories, they depend on it for recruitment, funding etc.

Governments are working very hard on their InfoOps, highlighting ISIS losses and failures, while doing their best to undermine reporting of ISIS successes.

Well...I understand it's not getting coverage in the US, but I would think it would be elsewhere.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
This is not good.....seems ISIS is making all kinds of advances today. They have now taken over the largest oil refinery in Iraq...odd this is not all over the news yet....

That's because the "news", as usual, is hyper-focused on Baltimore....all day all the time. The world is on fire, thousands have died in an earthquake, and Hillary is still covering up and lying, yet msm is only talking about the riots in Baltimore. Makes you wonder about the real agenda.

the big queation is:

with our air superiority and hundreds of drones in the air...
how is it possible for IS to move a large number of soldiers, rockets and artillery??

what are our planes doing right now? dropping supply crates over IS troops or what?

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
What happened to ISIS being so small nobody needed to worry?

I haven't read of anyone in the media or government(s) saying anything remotely like this; at least not for a very long time.

The U.S. media, of course, quickly loses interest and moves on to the next news du jour. Baltimore right now.

Here's even more bad news we're not hearing much about:

Iraq's Sunnis fleeing the fighting in western Anbar province have provided a cover for Islamic State militants to carry out a wave of bombings that struck Baghdad, political and security officials in the Iraqi capital claimed on Friday.

There has been a spike in bombings in Baghdad in the past week, with multiple blasts each day. On Thursday night alone six bombings killed 21 people and wounded scores.

Fighting in Anbar's provincial capital of Ramadi sent at least 110,000 refugees fleeing towards Baghdad over the past two weeks and they are now living on the outskirts of the city.

www.cbsnews.com...

originally posted by: DelMarvel

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
What happened to ISIS being so small nobody needed to worry?

I haven't read of anyone in the media or government(s) saying anything remotely like this; at least not for a very long time.

The U.S. media, of course, quickly loses interest and moves on to the next news du jour. Baltimore right now.

A while back it was very common for them to be portrayed as no threat and a small faction In the news. Even on ATS plenty stated nothing to worry about....seems they were wrong.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: DelMarvel

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
What happened to ISIS being so small nobody needed to worry?

I haven't read of anyone in the media or government(s) saying anything remotely like this; at least not for a very long time.

The U.S. media, of course, quickly loses interest and moves on to the next news du jour. Baltimore right now.

A while back it was very common for them to be portrayed as no threat and a small faction In the news. Even on ATS plenty stated nothing to worry about....seems they were wrong.

I remember this a lot, and it was less than a year ago that this was happening....

Many here literally laughed it off...

Meanwhile those of us who warned them and told them they were heavily funded and were not to be downplayed, watched as they grew in strength and number...

And now whole swaths of people are being murdered and killed wholesale

a reply to: Vasa Croe

The European and Middle Eastern governments have as much riding on this situation as the Americans. Europe has been directly effected by ISIS. Many recruits come from Europe, and there are active members in Europe. The European governments are as afraid of ISIS as the Americans are, if not more.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: Vasa Croe
Baiji refinery is a constant target by IS.
It would generate them massive oil revenue if they took it.
They would sell the oil cheap as usual,so any fool would buy it.
They already sell loads of dodgy IS oil.
Some of that oil ends up in the west being consumed by the civilians of europe and the usa.
Cheap cheap..

If Turkish gov. doesn't sell their oil , they have no way to do so .

specially in salah-aldin province .

Vasa croe : i see that you're interested about the issues of middle-east . thats very promising and i thank u for that . people should know whats going on

here is the thing : PMF (popular mobilization forces) are asked to stay away from salah-aldin province by some local sunni tribes . thats why they're advancing through that province

We constantly have it in the news that "Iranian and US backed groups make gains against ISIS" or "joint Iran-US supplying of Iraqi forces pushes back ISIS" and other things like this which are utterly wrong .

The gains are all made by Iraqis themselves : not Iranians nor the Americans . giving "arms" or logistical support from air or from ground has very little to do with winning a war with a nutjob group like ISIS . if it did , US would have crushed taliban in afghanistan , whereas they're still in charge there .

you might wonder why i'm saying all these , but i'll get to the reason later .

the main power behind crushing ISIS in Iraq is actually PMF . PMF is a joint "strike" force against ISIS which was ordered (Islamic fatwa-order) by a shia ayatollah (ayatollah sistani) who has a very very vast influence on both shia muslims and Sunni ones .

So PMF is consisted of Shia muslims (mostly) and Sunni muslims as well + trained shia militant groups like asa'ib ahl-alhagh .

they are the ones who are winning the war against the ISIS . they are not present in that area due to the request of their local tribes . they said they can handle the issue themselves and in response PMF said it will not send a single soldier until they're asked to

the situation is really complex , but all in all , much much better than syria .

I think we can actually win the war in Iraq by 2-3 years .