BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces have gained full control over a contested area south of the country's largest oil refinery Friday as part of ongoing operations to secure the rest of Salahuddin province following the recapturing of Tikrit, a senior Iraqi military official said. General Ayad Al-Lahabi, a commander with the Salahuddin Command Center, said the military, backed by coalition airstrikes and Shiite and Sunni militias dubbed the Popular Mobilization Forces, gained control of the towns of Al-Malha and Al-Mazraah, located 3 km south of the Beiji oil refinery, killing at least 160 militants with the Daesh (so-called IS) group. Al-Lahabi said security forces are trying to secure two corridors around the refinery itself after the Sunni militants launched a large-scale attack on the complex earlier this week, hitting the refinery walls with explosive-laced Humvees. — AP
